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Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

seattletimes.com

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Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#121

Post by wtallis »

scythe wrote: post #107
olyjohn wrote: post #99

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The lady in the article got the infection after using a water filter. This leaves 2 possibilities that I can see. 1. The filter didn't do it's job. I thought that a good filter would filter all organisms (or like 99.9%). I'm told by people that you can drink out of a swamp or mud puddle with a good filter. 2. The filter does work, but she didn't maintain her filter. Maybe the dirty filter actually was a nice place to…

>I'm told by people that you can drink out of a swamp or mud puddle with a good filter. "Good filter" is a relative term. Maybe you could do it if you "filtered" the water with a $10M reverse osmosis membrane? The filters I buy all say "do not use with unsafe water" or some similar phrase.

Filters for camping/outdoor usage are less than $100 and most of them are explicitly sold as suitable for use with dirty water. You get a disclaimer that they'll be slower and need to be replaced more often when used on dirty/cloudy water, and sometimes they also advise a chemical or UV treatment be used post-filtering if there are concerns about viruses. Eg. https://www.katadyn.com/us/us/428-8019160-katadyn-gravity-ca...

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#122

Post by jimmy1 »

dhimes wrote: post #12

I'm a little confused. Was the tap-water untreated (that is, well water)? Can these damn things survive chlorination? They're a known danger swimming in southern (US)- meaning warm- fresh-water lakes and ponds. But- damn, this is scary. Probably because I also use a neti-pot. Neti-pots are often used to help alleviate the symptoms of sinusitis. My neti-pot came with packets of salts that you dissolve in the water, wh…

From WebMD on Naegleria Fowleri (the brain eating amoeba)

> Naegleria can't live in salt water. It can't survive in properly treated swimming pools or in properly treated municipal water.

> Most cases of N. fowleri disease occur in Southern or Southwestern states. Over half of all infections have been in Florida and Texas.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#123

Post by silversmith »

chipperyman573 wrote: post #9
code_duck wrote: post #3

I wash my nose in such a way frequently because I have an extreme sensitivity to airborne chemicals and fragrances. It’s so uncomfortable to be doused with air freshener, diesel exhaust, cleaner fumes, laundry fragrance, plastic odor or perfume that I rinse my nose out with whatever water is available, which includes taps and drinking fountains. I’ve worried about such an illness happening to me, evidently with good…

You can safely use bottled water, that would probably be a easy alternative :)

Just so you know: "In a new report entitled "Take Back the Tap," Food & Water Watch explains that 64 percent of bottled water comes from municipal tap water sources" https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/sites/default/files/rpt_18...

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#124

Post by berlinstartup »

MertsA wrote: post #118
deepsun wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? If tap water is contaminated (by, say, metals or salts from plumbing system pipes), then boiling won't decontaminate it either.

This is what is in your hot water tank right now. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAzKts6Wp1Q&t=55s If your water heater is malfunctioning and not heating up all the way to 140 degrees but it's still heating up to e.g. 100 degrees then it's a breeding ground for listeria. The temperature difference changes the solubility of minerals and salts dissolved in it as well as changing how quickly everything even slightly vo…

Big Deal. You realize those minerals are present in just about any water you can imagine, right? They are almost completely harmless or even beneficial. The guy in your video is just scaremongering in order to sell something.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#125

Post by dzhiurgis »

capkutay wrote: post #2

Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.

RTFM... When is the last time you’ve actually did it?

It’s a problem with user not understanding its own anatomy rather than product itself.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#126

Post by bonestamp2 »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #125
capkutay wrote: post #2

Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.

RTFM... When is the last time you’ve actually did it? It’s a problem with user not understanding its own anatomy rather than product itself.

Not to mention, hot water tanks are a prime facility for some of these pests to grow while most people have no idea they should avoid their home hot water for anything other than washing. It should not be consumed in any way... this is why coffee makers specifically tell you to use cold water.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#127

Post by _0w8t »

GhostVII wrote: post #108
shawnz wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You shouldn't be using water from the hot tap even just for drinking or cooking, let alone putting in a neti pot. Water from a hot water tank can contain high levels of dissolved contaminants since it sits in your plumbing system for extended periods at high temperatures.

Isn't that pretty dependent on where you live? If you are in a newer house I doubt it would be an issue, since you have a personal water heater that gets cycled through pretty regularly.

If the water heater uses copper pipes, the copper still gets into the water. And even with plastic pipes the trace amount of plastic may still end in the water and nobody knows if drinking such water for, say, 40 years is safe.

So do not use hot water for cooking/drinking.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#128

Post by arvinjoar »

bonestamp2 wrote: post #126
dzhiurgis wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

RTFM... When is the last time you’ve actually did it? It’s a problem with user not understanding its own anatomy rather than product itself.

Not to mention, hot water tanks are a prime facility for some of these pests to grow while most people have no idea they should avoid their home hot water for anything other than washing. It should not be consumed in any way... this is why coffee makers specifically tell you to use cold water.

Pretty sure that is because of metals. Living things die when boiling anyway

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#129

Post by anotheryou »

chipperyman573 wrote: post #9
code_duck wrote: post #3

I wash my nose in such a way frequently because I have an extreme sensitivity to airborne chemicals and fragrances. It’s so uncomfortable to be doused with air freshener, diesel exhaust, cleaner fumes, laundry fragrance, plastic odor or perfume that I rinse my nose out with whatever water is available, which includes taps and drinking fountains. I’ve worried about such an illness happening to me, evidently with good…

You can safely use bottled water, that would probably be a easy alternative :)

how is bottle water better? where I live the tap water is usually of higher quality than the bottled water, just a bit harder.

Re: Rare brain-eating amoebas killed woman who rinsed her sinuses with tap water

#130

Post by onetimemanytime »

capkutay wrote: post #2

Sounds like she was using a neti-pot. I thought most of the neti-pot products made it pretty clear that you're supposed to use previously boiled or distilled bottled water. Maybe they need to make it more clear that the consequences of using tap water can be pretty dangerous.

what's the difference from washing your face? Doesn't some water go inside the nose /sinuses when you blow it, breathe as you wash? (I guess even 1mm3 would contain plenty of microbes.)
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