PMA’s guide on how to stay healthy this monsoon season

Rainfall in Pakistan not only caused power outages and infrastructure damage, but also became a cause of the spread of water-borne diseases such as typhoid fever, gastroenteritis, hepatitis A, hepatitis E and cholera.

According to the Pakistan Medical Association, these diseases will rise several times during the rainy season. In addition to the above-mentioned diseases, the threat of Negrilia fowleri (commonly known as brain-eating amoeba) has recently increased.

The Medical Association says that the disease is very fatal and is caused by N. flexneri bacteria present in non-chlorinated water.

PMA said: “It enters the brain through the nostrils and starts to damage the brain. Naegleria fowleri is commonly called the brain-eating amoeba because it eats the front lobes of the brain.”

PMA added that this can lead to meningioma-encephalitis, which is fatal in 95% of cases, and the affected person will eventually die.

In order to prevent infection with these diseases, the following are PMA guidelines:

• Always drink boiled water;
• Make sure that there is no standing water around the house. If so, spray kerosene;
• Brush your teeth with clean water;
• Use clean water to prepare food, wash utensils, vegetables and fruits;
• Wash your hands with soap and water after eating, cooking, feeding children and going to the toilet;
• Make sure children wash their hands in the same way;
• Do not let children play in the rain or the surrounding still water;
• If possible, avoid eating outside these days;
• If your children, especially young children, continue to have diarrhea/vomiting, please take them to the doctor immediately.

Notes for Naegleria fowleri

• Do not wash your face or bath with contaminated water;
• Do not swim in non-chlorinated pools;
• Do not put your fingers into your nostrils when washing your face, because the amoeba will enter your nose;
• Do not dive into reservoirs such as ponds, lakes, rivers, etc.;
• Avoid swimming in the farmhouse swimming pool;
• People are also asked to put chlorine in a groundwater tank (one pill per 1000 gallons of water)
• You can also use bleach to clean your reservoir. Take two tablespoons of bleach, add water to make a paste, and put it in the water tank at night. Remember, this is enough to hold 500 to 1500 gallons of water;
• Clean underground storage tanks once a year;
• If you feel headache/nausea in the past 24 hours, please consult your doctor immediately.