Question Has anyone ever gotten the Brain Eating Amoeba (Naegleria fowleri) while Scuba Diving?

[dmaziuk]

I was taught that fairly forceful injection of water up into the nose was required for infection, not just a little sprinkle of water into the nose.

Define "forceful" -- I suspect 90% of child-athlete swimmers will tell you we can get water into our sinus cavities and walk around with it for days without caring. (OK, salt water: fresh water stings a little and chlorinated pool water stings more, but you learn to man up and take it when it happens in a middle of a race.)

 

[kinoons]

Define "forceful" -- I suspect 90% of child-athlete swimmers will tell you we can get water into our sinus cavities and walk around with it for days without caring. (OK, salt water: fresh water stings a little and chlorinated pool water stings more, but you learn to man up and take it when it happens in a middle of a race.)

I can’t - just what I was taught when we discussed this illness in school.

Again, given the rarity of the infection each year it’s going to be hard to nail down specifics beyond fresh water.

 

[karstanimal17]

There is speculation in Brett Gilliam's Deep Diving book that a well known cave diver became infected with it and either the physical effect or the knowledge that he had a degenerative brain disease led to bad decision making that ultimately led to him dying in mysterious circumstances on a dive. I am too lazy to walk the 6 feet to the bookshelf and get the details as I remember it sounding extremely fanciful and devoid of any evidence to back it up.

That would be Frank Martz, one of the greatest pioneers in the early days of deep cave diving. He supposedly contracted it during a heat wave at Eagle's Nest in Florida. I admit it's a fanciful theory, but the great Sheck Exley, who knew Frank personally and I believe was there during his last dive, believed in it and perhaps even originally thought it up. He mentions it in his autobiography Caverns Measureless to Man, which is one of my favorite books of all time.

 

[Dominik_E]

I did not know that story, but honestly, it sounds not really realistic (to me at least): PAME, the meningitis caused by N. fowleri, is as far as I know a disease with quite rapid onset, and manifests with heavy fever, severe headaches, vomitting, this type of symptoms. Surely nothing that would incline a person towards a dive. It is not what most people would associate with "degenerative disease".

 

[karstanimal17]

I did not know that story, but honestly, it sounds not really realistic (to me at least): PAME, the meningitis caused by N. fowleri, is as far as I know a disease with quite rapid onset, and manifests with heavy fever, severe headaches, vomitting, this type of symptoms. Surely nothing that would incline a person towards a dive. It is not what most people would associate with "degenerative disease".

Yes, Sheck was aware of the symptoms and apparently noticed Frank exhibiting similar signs in the days leading up to the dive. The dive at Eagle's Nest where he supposedly contracted it would have been a week or two previous. I forgot to mention, but the full "theory" is actually that Frank, realizing his impending demise, decided to commit suicide in the deep, unexplored blue hole where the dive took place. It wasn't a "bad decision" but a purposeful euthanasia. His line was tied off at the end of the current exploration into a restriction that had deterred previous attempts, and continued out of sight well past 400 feet deep. Sheck reasons that a diver who had such an affinity for depth and exploration might have decided to end it there, where no one had been before or could reach to find him, easily fading into unconsciousness due to heavy nitrogen narcosis (these dives were on air).

 

[Dominik_E]

Of course I was not there. And actually, I have never seen a person with PAME. Just saying what I read is that it normally is a rapid onset of really severe physical symptoms, with which afflicted persons surely will not be able to dive, suicidal intent or not. Additionally, the diseases is so very rare and the initial symptoms can absolutely fit much less severe diagnoses (TBE to just give an obvious example), that I just have a hard time imagining such a scenario. That is all I can say, was of course not there...

 

[evandroairton]

There is speculation in Brett Gilliam's Deep Diving book that a well known cave diver became infected with it and either the physical effect or the knowledge that he had a degenerative brain disease led to bad decision making that ultimately led to him dying in mysterious circumstances on a dive. I am too lazy to walk the 6 feet to the bookshelf and get the details as I remember it sounding extremely fanciful and devoid of any evidence to back it up.

At the Bahamas

 

[lizardland]

That would be Frank Martz, one of the greatest pioneers in the early days of deep cave diving. He supposedly contracted it during a heat wave at Eagle's Nest in Florida. I admit it's a fanciful theory, but the great Sheck Exley, who knew Frank personally and I believe was there during his last dive, believed in it and perhaps even originally thought it up. He mentions it in his autobiography Caverns Measureless to Man, which is one of my favorite books of all time.

It may have been CMTM that I remember it from (also one of my favourite books). Maybe "fanciful" wasn't the greatest choice of words. What I meant was, as written in the book it seems very speculative and doesn't really reference much solid evidence. But then, whichever book it's in, it's a memoir, not a peer-reviewed article.

 

[USdiver1]

Worst sinus infection I ever had was the result of multiple drops into a dunking tank at the county fair (never volunteer for anything). While I don’t think it was brain eating amoebas that infected me, my wife may disagree.

 

[tallman]

No, but its always been a fear of mine in... uncertain waters. I am more worried about the fish that goes into your urethra when peeing under water.