UNFAMILIARITY OF PRIMARY AMOEBIC MENINGOENCEPHALITIS IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

We report a case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis in Nigeria in a 7-year old boy from a rural area. The clinical course was classically that of meningoencephalitis and laboratory diagnosis was from the cerebrospinal fluid and pond water specimen which showed free-living structures of amoeba of Naegleria species. Methods available could not differentiate the Naegleria species. Investigation revealed that the boy played and swam in a village pond for many years before his death and the pond was infested with free living amoebae. Despite the world-wide nature of the disease, the reporting of the cases had been very rare. The apparent rarity of the reporting world-wide and in particular in developing countries result in ignorance of people of the disease.

Keywords
Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, developing countries, unfamiliarity problems.