Think you got PAM/Brain eating amoeba? READ THIS!

Ok, so this fear has been quit common, especially during summer time, and so I feel like this thread is necessary.
I myself have suffered from this fear, and still do to this day, but the facts I’m about to state helped me get through them without constant dread and fear.

1. There’s barely ever a case yearly, and whenever there is, it’s usually from freshwater lakes.
People generally fear that they will get PAM after swimming in pools or getting tap water in their nose.
If the pool water is crystal clear, has the scent of chemicals, there is no possibility of getting PAM from it.

Nearly every pool is also maintained properly, and the water ciruclates, hence it being impossible for amoebas or algae to form in the water

There have been bits of cases in which pools caused PAM and this happens because they were those temporary pool sets that are both small and have no filtration system.

If these pools aren’t maintained with a good amount of chlorine daily, it’s obvious that they will get dirty and dangerous.

Tap water is also chlorinated to an amount of which no amoeba will get through it, this is especially the case in bigger cities.

There have been cases of tap water causing it in states like Texas, but this is generally caused because the water came from wells.This water doesn’t look clean at all, and so avoiding it should’ve been the smart thing from the start, but I assume people overlooked this at the time.

2. People get the most common anxiety symptoms and assume the worst.

PAM works in an interesting way, it goes through the nose to the olfactory nerves, then to the brain.
So first thing is first, people will initially lose their ability to smell and taste, as the amoeba eats through our olfactory nerves before going into our brain.

Unless you lose your sense of smell and ability to taste, you can’t have any of the supposed symptoms you believe you got from Naglaeri Fowleri (the brain eating amoeba).

Since losing ones sense of smell and taste is nearly impossible because of anxiety, this is a great trick for knowing when you should an shouldn’t worry.

A loss of ones ability to smell and taste is only problematic when one isn’t sick, so keep that in mind.

3. There’s a reason why hundreds of thousands of people swim in freshwater lakes and don’t get this infection.

First off, the amoeba has to be shot into ones nose forcefully, and this can only take place through someone diving into a body of water.

Since properly maintained pools don’t contain amoebas, there’s no cause of concern here, but in lakes, diving is generally not as safe.

However, even in this case, the chance of getting PAM is super rare, and that can be seen through the ratio of people that swim in lakes, and those that get it yearly.

This is because a lot of people must swim in a lake to stir up the bacterias and amoebas at the bottom, as that’s where most of the debri lays. Even in this situation, a person must get super unlucky to dive into the water at the same time in which the debri of amoeba is going through.

At this point, there again is a catch, unless the amoeba was forced that badly into the nose, no one will get PAM. Our nose naturally protects us and our brain from bacteria through creating dried nasal mucus (boogers). If the amoeba doesn’t get far enough in our nose, then our nose will just get rid of it on its own.

It’s nearly impossible to get this amoeba in ones brain, and so wasting time considering all these chances is a big waste of time. In all honesty, it’s like thinking a lightning will hit you out of nowhere on a sunny day.

4. Amoebas don’t exist in bodies of water with salt.

They can’t be found in beaches, and if a pool is composed of salt water, then amoebas can’t exist in it.

5. Experience
After wasting a few months thinking that you’ll get this infection, you kind of get used to being proven wrong.
Due to that, you just stop fearing the overall thought of getting this infection, and this is because you stopped feeding the dragon.

6. It can be cured.
There is a cure to PAM and as far as I know, around 4 people have been cured.
If it’s such a big fear, just let a family member know that PAM is a concern of yours, and if you truly do get sick (which I know for a fact you wont) you’ll at least have a decent chance of living through it.

Apparently, there are scientists working on cures as it is, and so the chances of living through PAM are getting higher through the months.

7. It’s literally a waste of time, and super irrational.

Good luck with your journey through this fear; time is the best healer! :)

Great post to help people rationalise this fear. Well done for managing to overcome your worries about it.

Thank you, hopefully it helps a lot of people! :)

Also, one thing I’d like to say is, don’t read news about brain eating amoebas! Their intentions are to spread fear and cause panic. This is one of the reasons as to why my episode of brain eating amoeba lasted a while, and that’s because I kept picturing myself in the same terrible situation as those who died from this infection. Fear is stronger than reason.