Fatal<i>Naegleria fowleri</i>Meningoencephalitis, Italy

Abstract

We report the first case of primary amebic meningoencephalitis in Italy, in a 9-year-old boy. Clinical course was fulminant, and diagnosis was made by identifying amebas in stained brain sections and by indirect immunofluorescence analysis. Naegleria fowleri was characterized as genotype I on the basis of polymerase chain reaction test results.