Neti Pot Deaths Linked to Brain-Eating Amoeba in Tap Water By The Associated Press

Louisiana health regulators warned residents Tuesday about the dangers of using neti pots improperly. A neti pot, which looks like a genie's lamp, is commonly used to irrigate sinuses. The Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals issued its warning following a second death this year caused by Naegleria fowleri, the so-called brain-eating amoeba.

A 51-year-old DeSoto Parish woman died after using tap water in a neti pot to irrigate her sinuses and became infected by the deadly amoeba, which entered the body through her nose. In June, a 20-year-old St. Bernard Parish man died under the same circumstances.

Safe Neti Pot Use

"If you are irrigating, flushing, or rinsing your sinuses, for example, by using a neti pot, use distilled, sterile or previously boiled water to make up the irrigation solution," said Louisiana State Epidemiologist, Dr. Raoult Ratard. "Tap water is safe for drinking, but not for irrigating your nose."

It's also important to rinse the irrigation device after each use and leave open to air dry, he said.

The very rare infection typically occurs when people go swimming or diving in warm freshwater lakes and rivers. In very rare instances, health experts said such infections may also occur when contaminated water from other sources, such as inadequately chlorinated swimming pool water or heated tap water less than 116.6 degrees, enters the nose when people submerge their heads or when people irrigate their sinuses with devices such as a neti pot.

Be Wary of Symptoms

DHH said the amoeba causes the disease primary amebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection that leads to the destruction of brain tissue. In its early stages, symptoms may be similar to symptoms of bacterial meningitis and can include headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and stiff neck. Later symptoms include confusion, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations.

After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days.

Contrary to the Advertisements Against Girls/Women--Half of Men/Boys may have HPV infections: study

By Julie Steenhuysen – Mon Feb 28 Reuters

CHICAGO (Reuters) – Half of men in the general population may be infected with human papillomavirus or HPV, the human wart virus that causes cervical and other cancers, strengthening the case for vaccinating boys against HPV, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

U.S. vaccine advisers have been weighing whether boys and young men should be vaccinated against the human papillomavirus, as they already recommend for girls and young women, but some worry the vaccine is too costly to justify its use.

HPV infection is best known as the primary cause of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide. But various strains of HPV also cause anal, penile, head and neck cancers. Vaccinating men and boys would prevent some of these cancers.

Anna Giuliano of the H Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute in Tampa, Florida, and colleagues studied infection rates among more than 1,100 men aged 18 to 70 in the United States, Brazil and Mexico to get a snapshot of the natural progression of HPV infection in men.

"We found that there is a high proportion of men who have genital HPV infections. At enrollment, it was 50 percent," said Giuliano, whose study appears online in the journal Lancet.

The team also found that the rate at which men acquire new HPV infections is very similar to women.

And they found that about 6 percent of men per year will get a new HPV 16 infection, the strain that is known for causing cervical cancer in women and other cancers in men.

Vaccines made by Merck & Co and GlaxoSmithKline both offer protection against this strain of HPV.

"The biology seems to be very similar (to women)," Giuliano said in a telephone interview.

"What is different is men seem to have high prevalence of genital HPV infections throughout their lifespans."

She said it appears that women are better able to clear an HPV infection, especially as they age, but men do not appear to have this same ability.

Vaccine experts said the study builds momentum for widespread HPV vaccination among boys. [not just hysterical vaccinations and advertisements for girls]

Currently, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends Gardasil vaccinations for girls and women between the ages of 11 and 26. Gardasil had sales of more than $1 billion last year.

And while doctors are free to use the vaccine in boys and men ages 9 through 26, U.S. health officials so far have declined to recommend routine vaccination for males. [they never do, they even pull all commercials about anything faulty in the male between belt and knees, if it isn't about getting and retaining a hard on and "more satisfaction"--not for jock itch, male smell, urinating frequently and need to wear diapers, etc]

"This study highlights the high incidence of HPV infection in men, which emphasizes their role in transmission of HPV to women," [EXACTLY! But the commercial advertisements NEVER mention this.] Dr. Anne Szarewski of the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine in London said in a statement.

"It must surely strengthen the argument for vaccination of men, both for their own protection, and that of their partners."

In December, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Merck's Gardasil HPV vaccine for prevention of anal cancers in both men and women, based on studies showing Gardasil was effective in men who have sex with men, a group that has a higher incidence of anal cancer.

Anal cancer is one of the less common types of cancer, with an estimated 5,300 new U.S. cases diagnosed each year, but the incidence is increasing.

(Editing by Cynthia Osterman)