ALAPPUZHA: A fifteen-year-old boy from Alappuzha has died of a rare brain-eating amoeba. The deceased is Gurudath (15),a 10th class student. The preliminary conclusion is that the amoeba may have entered the body through the nose while bathing in the stream. He was undergoing treatment at Alappuzha Medical College since Sunday.

Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a disease that seriously affects the brain is caused when amoeba, which lives freely in water, enter the body through our nose when we bathe in a pool or a pond. This disease was first reported in Alappuzha Municipality in 2017.

Symptoms of this disease include fever, headache, vomiting and seizures. The district health department officials have instructed to avoid bathing in contaminated water.