Eli5 how Naegleria is difficult to cure?
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Human body cells and amoeba are surpsingly similar such that drugs that kill one also kill the other.
Amoeba are also voracious creatures that eat pretty much they comes across. Naelaria targeting the brain also makes it difficukt to reach by typical treatments.
Think of it like rattlesnake bites. We have antivenin for rattlesnake bites. It works and will save you.
But the medicine isn’t free and rattlesnake bites, especially deadly ones, are very rare. It doesn’t make sense for every hospital to carry rattlesnake antivenin all the time. So there’s a cure, but it’s not always available.
Naegleria fowleri also has a treatment, but it’s also not something that we stock everywhere.
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