Page 48 Daily Mail, Tuesday, August 27, 2019F
OR years, neti pots have been
used to clear the sinuses and
ease nasal congestion. The
vessels, which look like a
genie’s lamp, are used to poursterile, salt water into one nostril.
You allow it to drain out the other, by
tilting your head sideways. This is said to
flush out congested mucus that is clogging
up the sinuses.
Neti pots have also been embraced by most
NhS ear, nose and throat (eNT) departments
as a safe and effective way to tackle blockages.
even the respected Cochrane research group
has said nasal irrigation is a ‘cheap, safe and
acceptable’ alternative to nasal sprays
containing steroids or antihistamines.
The devices, available from high Street
chemists for as little as £5, are usually made
from plastic, steel or ceramic, and are
recommended for those with a consistently
runny or blocked nose.
But are they as safe as we might think? Last
year, a woman in Seattle, in the U.S., died
By PAT HAGAN
Don’t use one of
these until you
have read what
can go wrong
after contracting a very rare
condition, amoebic meningitis,
from using a neti pot incorrectly.
D
OCTORS had prescribed
the pot to the 69-year-old
to combat a persistent
sinus infection. But she
failed to follow instructions to use
only cooled, boiled water to rinse,
instead opting for tap water.
Unfortunately, the water
contained Naegleria fowleri, a
tiny amoeba less than 1mm in
diameter, which thrives in water.
The amoeba travelled through
her sinuses and crossed into the
brain, where it started to consume
healthy brain cells. Symptoms of
amoebic meningitis strike within
days, and include headache,
behavioural disturbances, fever,
nausea and vomiting.
Antibiotics can help, but it is fatal
in well over 90 per cent of cases. A
post-mortem revealed much of her
brain had been destroyed, which
led to her death.
This follows two similar cases,
also in the U.S., in 2011, where
patients using tap water instead
of sterile water died from the same
rare form of meningitis.
The organism that caused all
three deaths can be found in warm
water that exceeds around 25c.
There have only been around 250
cases of meningitis caused byNaegleria fowleri around the world
— most involving swimming in
contaminated lakes or pools, where
water is forced up the nostrils
when someone jumps in. Drinking
water containing the amoeba does
no harm, as it gets killed by
powerful stomach acid.
So how much of a threat is it in
the UK? here mains tap water is
around 20c, but in the summer it
can reach the temperature required
for the amoeba to thrive.
however, our domestic water
supplies are treated with chlorine,
which has been shown to kill
the organism.
But some research casts doubt
on how effective the chlorine in tapwater is at
this task.
A study,
published in
2015 in the
environmental
Science and
Technology journal,
showed the amoeba
survived longer in pipes with
chlorinated water than laboratory
tests suggested — 24 hours instead
of just five minutes.
It’s thought the film of material
that forms on the inside of water
pipes protects the amoeba from
the chlorine.
The risks from neti pots, when
they are used correctly, are clearlylow. But millions of people do not
follow the instructions properly.
A 2012 study by researchers from
the University of Alberta in
Canada found almost half of neti
pot owners used tap water to
rinse. They quizzed 100 patients
who had blocked noses due to
allergies and found 65 per cent
found it too ‘inconvenient’ to use
cooled boiled water, while 70 per
cent rarely cleaned their neti pots
— another infection risk.T
he researchers warned:
‘The extremely rare, but
typically fatal, risk of
meningitis makes this a
potential health hazard.’
There may be other risks from
using neti pots long-term. Most
patients are advised to rinse with
them daily for one to three weeks
at a time to banish congestion. But
many use them for longer to
prevent symptoms returning.
Research from Georgetown
University School of Medicine
in Washington in the U.S.,
suggests this can increase
the risk of sinus infection
by up to 60 per cent.
It’s thought this is
because rinsing flushes out
excess mucus but
subsequent use means the
solution also washes away the
healthy layer of nasal mucus
that acts as a first line of defence
against allergens or bacteria.
Dr Tony Narula, former president
of the professional body eNT UK,
says neti pots are safe and effective
if used correctly. ‘But bacteria and
other organisms can fester in dirty
water, so it’s important to clean
them every time you use them,’ he
says. ‘If not, you could breathe
them in and put yourself at risk.’