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Disclaimer: Early release articles are not considered as final versions. Any changes will be reflected in the online version in the month the article is officially released.

Volume 32, Number 9—September 2026

Synopsis

Epidemiology of and Risk Factors for Amebic Meningoencephalitis, Kerala, India, 2025

Harikumar Sivanandan1, Jeromie Wesley Vivian Thangaraj1, Ala Saritha2, Anitha Bhaskar2, Aravind Reghukumar2, Asuma A. Rahim2, Bindu Vadakkayil2, Chintha Sujatha2, Karthika Meenakshy Amma2, Manoj Arayakandy Thali2, Prathibha M. Thankamoni Amma2, Priya Chandran2, Rekha Melathuparambil Ravindran2, Remya Prakash2, Sabitha Rose Jacob2, Shameer Vadekkandiyil2, Shubin Chenayil2, Unnikrishnan Bhaskarannair2, Abhishek Gopalakrishnan Saraswthy3, Anitha Puduvail Moorkoth3, Bhagyalakshmi Mahavan Kanchana3, Biju George3, Dinesh Gopal3, Heera Hassan3, Jincy Johnson3, Kiran Raj Divakaran3, M.C. Sathya Bhama3, Megha Shaju3, Minu Abraham3, Neetha T. Ramankutty3, Pressy Sankar3, Priyanka Sajeev3, Saritha Narayanankutty3, O. Sasikumari3, Sujina Cheraparambil Muthukutty3, Thekkumkara Surendran Anish3, Vishnunath Kadavath3, Aruna Raman4, Bindu Gopalakrishnan Santhakumari4, Gayathri Ramakrishnan4, Geetha Panarkandy4, Jayakrishnan Machinery Puthanpurayil4, Mohandas Nair Karippoth4, Shameem Anathan Mohammed4, Sheeja Sugunan4, Sindhu Thekkile Gangadharan4, Anuja Ushakumari5, Chandni Radhakrishnan5, Easwaran Sreekumar5, Naveen Anaswara5, Pillaveetil Sathyadas Indu5, Reetha Kakkarakandiyil Pareri5, Sahadevan Sunija5, Sajeeth Kumar Keeriyatt Govindan5, Jaichand Johnson, Ajan Maheswaran Jaya, Abey Sushan, Raman Swathy Vaman, Lakshmi Geetha Gopalakrishnan, Arun P. Vijayalekshmi, Dinesh Kumar Harikrishnan, Sabarinathan Ramasamy, Navaneeth S. Krishna, Viswanathan V. Kollengode, Reena K. Joseph, Vinay Goyal, Rajan Khobragade, Manoj V. MurhekarComments to Author , and AME Study Group
Author affiliation: Government of Kerala Directorate of Health Services, Thiruvananthapuram, India (H. Sivanandan, M.A. Thali, R.M. Ravindran, S. Chenayil, U. Bhaskarannair, A.G. Saraswthy, K.R. Divakaran, M. Abraham, P. Sajeev, R.K. Pareri, A.M. Jaya, A. Sushan, R. Vaman, L.G. Gopalakrishnan, A.P. Vijayalekshmi, R.K. Joseph); Indian Council of Medical Research National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai, India (J.W.V. Thangraj, A. Saritha, D. Gopal, M. Shaju, V. Kadavath, D.K. Harikrishnan, S. Ramasamy, N.S. Krishna, M.V. Murhekar); Government Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram (A. Bhaskar, A. Reghukumar, K.M. Amma, R. Prakash, B.M. Kanchana, H. Hassan, J. Johnson, M.C.S. Bhama, N.T. Ramankutty, S. Narayanankutty, O. Sasikumari, A. Raman, B.G. Santhakumari, S. Sugunan); Government Medical College, Kozhikode, India (A.A. Rahim, B. Vadakkayil, S. Vadekkandiyil, A.P. Moorkoth, P. Sankar, G. Ramakrishnan, G. Panarkandy, J.M. Puthanpurayil, M.N. Karippoth, S.A. Mohammed, S.K.K. Govindan); Government Medical College, Kollam, India (C. Sujatha, P.M. Thankamoni Amma); Government Medical College, Manjeri, India (P. Chandran, S.R. Jacob, B. George, S.C. Muthukutty); Kerala One Health Centre for Nipah Research and Resilience, Kozhikode (T.S. Anish); Government Medical College, Kasaragod, India (S.T. Gangadharan); Directorate of Medical Education, Kerala, India (A. Ushakumar, V.V. Kollengode); Government Medical College, Wayanad, India (C. Radhakrishnan); Institute of Advanced Virology, Thiruvananthapuram (E. Sreekumar); Kerala Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, Thiruvananthapuram (N. Anaswara); Government Medical College, Thrissur, India (P.S. Indu); State Public Health and Clinical Lab, Thiruvananthapuram (S. Sahadevan); National Health Mission, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram (V. Goyal); Health & Family Welfare, Government of Kerala, Thiruvananthapuram (R. Khobragade)

Main Article

Figure 2

Epidemic curve of AME cases by onset of illness, Kerala state, India, 2025. Cases were confirmed by real-time PCR as caused by Acanthamoeba spp. or Naegleria fowleri amebae or confirmed via wet-mount microscopy of cerebrospinal fluid. AME, amebic meningoencephalitis.

Figure 2. Epidemic curve of AME cases by onset of illness, Kerala state, India, 2025. Cases were confirmed by real-time PCR as caused by Acanthamoeba spp. or Naegleria fowleri amebae or confirmed via wet-mount microscopy of cerebrospinal fluid. AME, amebic meningoencephalitis.

Main Article

1These authors contributed equally to this article.

2These authors contributed equally to this article.

3These authors contributed equally to this article.

4These authors contributed equally to this article.

5These authors contributed equally to this article.

Page created: July 30, 2026
Page updated: August 13, 2026
Page reviewed: August 13, 2026
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