Do you rinse your nose with tap water? Be careful, this can be fatal

Washing your nose regularly helps remove particles that accumulate on mucous membranes to ensure respiratory comfort and avoid infections and allergies. But be careful not to go about it haphazardly. According to the conclusion of a new study, the results of which were presented by Why Doctor, people who use non-sterile tap water to clean their noses can become infected by amoeba. An infection that can be fatal.

In particular, this single-celled organism can be extremely harmful to humans if it enters the human body through the nose. In particular, it can cause Acanthamoeba keratitis, an inflammation of the cornea. But, in the most severe cases, brain infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, so extreme caution is needed.

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Vigilance is required

To establish this cause-and-effect link, scientists examined data from 10 patients suffering from infections caused by amoeba of the genus Acanthamoeba. After analysis, they found that they were all immune and that they had all washed their noses before infection. And at least half of them used tap water to do it.

Therefore, the researchers call for extreme caution and recommend rinsing the nose only with distilled or sterile water. But if you still opt for tap water, it is strongly recommended to disinfect the water with chlorine or boil it for at least one minute and let it cool before rinsing the sinuses. It is also recommended to sniff the water while swimming or showering. Please note that a person cannot get infected by drinking tap water.

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As shown by the Bordeaux University Hospital Center, nasal washing is indicated in the treatment of all nasal pathologies, including allergic rhinitis (30% of the population) or nasal-sinus polyposis (5% of the population).) is particularly common. Both are characterized by being associated with asthma in 30 to 50% of cases.