Amoebic brain fever: Three persons diagnosed in Kerala, precautions advised
Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 5: Three persons who bathed in a pond in this South Kerala district have been diagnosed with amoebic meningoencephalitis, State Health Minister Veena George said on Monday.
In a statement, she revealed that a recent death in Thiruvananthapuram was also confirmed to have been from the deadly disease, commonly known as amoebic brain fever.
The three patients diagnosed with the disease are currently undergoing treatment at Thiruvananthapuram Medical College hospital.
According to the minister, all of these patients had come into contact with the virus from the pond where they had bathed.
In light of the confirmed cases of amoebic meningoencephalitis in Thiruvananthapuram, the health department has issued an advisory. People using water from ponds where animals are bathed or where water hyacinths are present are advised to exercise caution.
The advisory recommended avoiding bathing or washing one's face in contaminated water.
Amoebic meningoencephalitis is a rare and often fatal disease caused by the amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
A 14-year-old boy, who had died early in July, was the latest victim of amoebic meningoencephalitis in Kerala.
That was the fourth case of the rare brain infection reported in the state since May and all the patients were children.
According to medical experts, the infection occurs when free-living, non-parasitic amoebae bacteria enter the body through the nose from contaminated water.
The disease was earlier reported in coastal Alappuzha district in the state in 2023 and 2017.
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Two arrested in K'taka for assaulting minors, uploading CSAM content
Bengaluru (PTI): Two men were arrested for allegedly sexually assaulting two minor girls, recording the acts on mobile phones and uploading the videos online as child sexual abuse material, police said on Thursday.
The accused have been identified as Kiran Kumar (29), hailing from Chitradurga district, and Aditya M K (20), hailing from Shivamogga district, they said.
A probe was initiated after information was received from the NCRP portal regarding a suspected instance of creation of Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM) for online dissemination, police said.
Accordingly, a case was registered at Kaggalipura Police Station under relevant sections of the IT Act on May 10, they added.
Investigation revealed that two minor girl victims were exploited and videos were created and uploaded to the internet. The child victims have subsequently recorded their statements as per procedure and further necessary legal steps have been taken, Pronab Mohanty Director General of Police, Cyber Command, said in a statement.
Based on the statements of the victims, the accused persons, who allegedly assaulted the minors, recorded the acts on mobile phones and uploaded the videos online, were arrested, he said.
Following the probe, sections 65(2) (rape) and 70 (gangrape) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with relevant sections of the POCSO Act, have been added to the FIR, police said.
Officials collected relevant information and on May 12, arrested the accused persons and seized three mobile phones belonging to them, in which the videos had allegedly been recorded, he said.
The accused were later produced before the court and taken into police custody for further investigation, he added.
According to him, in CSAM cases, police usually apprehend offenders who have downloaded such content or have kept them in their possession after obtaining them from elsewhere, usually the internet.
"The present case is one of the very few instances where content creators and uploaders have been apprehended," Mohanty added.
