The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a new report that highlights a potential danger of nasal rinsing with unsterile tap water: amoeba infections of the skin, eyes, lungs or brain.
In the report, published Tuesday (March 12) in the journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, the agency detailed the cases of 10 U.S. patients who were infected with a type of amoeba called Acanthamoeba between 1994 and 2022. Nine of the cases occurred in the past decade. All of the patients had rinsed out their nasal passages, most with devices like squeeze bottles or neti pots, before falling ill. They did so for various reasons, including to relieve symptoms of chronic sinusitis, or sinus inflammation.
