Re: Beware the brain-eating amoeba

On Mar 15, 2024 at 4:01:11 PM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

moviePig <never@nothere.com> wrote:

 On 3/15/2024 1:55 PM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:

 On 3/15/2024 10:47 AM, moviePig wrote:

 On 3/15/2024 12:41 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:

 moviePig <never@nothere.com> wrote:

 On 3/14/2024 11:55 AM, anim8rfsk wrote:

 shawn <nanoflower@notforg.m.a.i.l.com> wrote:

 On Thu, 14 Mar 2024 02:03:53 -0000 (UTC), "Adam H. Kerman"
 <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
 

 Not sure this makes for the basis of a '50s drive-in movie.
 Basically,
 all you have to do is NOT irrigate your nostrils with tap water,
 to keep
 the amoeba out of your sinuses and from getting into your brain.
 
 
https://apnews.com/article/neti-pots-tap-water-amoeba-aed6e6f9129d85146d396d71b8778812

 
 I knew those sorts of amoebas were out there but thought the only
 risk
 of catching them was if you inhaled water from ponds that contained
 them. I had no idea they could also be found in treated water. Not
 that I've ever used a neti pot but I do know people that have used
 them and I assume they just used tap water to do so.
 

 
 Indeed, they do.

 
 I've said this before but, it seems profoundly stupid to suppose that
 the complex substance Nature has evolved to most effectively coat your
 nasal passages can be improved upon by replacement with mere tap water.
 

 
 It’s not tapwater. The things come with little saline packets, and
 you make
 your own saline solution. In fact, they generally have warnings not
 to use
 just plain water.

 
 Okay, maybe that's different.  But such warnings aren't encouraging...
 

 Such warnings are routine though usually the issue to be avoided by them
 is infection.

 
 The more paranoid (like me) might infer from them that there's normally
 a delicate ecosystem up there ...so delicate that mere tap water's a
 threat.  And mere table salt sounds like an awfully convenient panacea.
 

 
The first part seems reasonable. The business about not using regular
tapwater seems both silly and scary. I mean, what the hell happens when you
go swimming?

Sometimes you end up with an amoeba eating your brain. You occasionally hear
about some kid who died from it after swimming in a pond or a lake somewhere.

Although, it's my understanding that when swimming, it's almost impossible to
get it unless you somehow force the water up into your nasal passages with
high pressure, like jumping off an embankment into a lake where the water is
shoved up into your nose as you hit the surface. Normal swimming in a lake or
a river that has these amoebas doesn't pose a risk.

I don’t know that the saline packets are “mere table salt“
The product you can get on Amazon, says it has salt and sodium bicarbonate,
and a couple other things that instantly create a sterile environment