How do hotel showers stand against Naegleria fowleri, the brain-eating amoeba? This is makin me anxious.

[Sullyhogs]

Hey, everyone. I’m 24 years old and I know in some places, water can be very dangerous if not handled correctly. So I’m in Fort Walton Beach, Florida for a short vacation. I’ve already been here since Sunday, and I’ll be leaving this coming Sunday. I’m in a small condo with my mom, my dad’s mom, and my two sisters in a five-star building called “Vista Del Mar” that’s petty much right on the water. You could quite literally throw a stone and it would land in the ocean or on the beach. This complex is a REALLY nice place, for real somebody could live in one of these condos and they’d be satisfied. A few hours ago, I accidentally got water up my nose in the shower while laying on my stomach to wash my back. I have short arms so I wanted to get in a position where I could wash the sand and everything from the ocean off my entire body. There wasn’t a lot of water that went up my nose, and it seemed like it got out of there, but I have terrible anxiety about this sort of thing, and that’s coming from someone who doesn’t suffer from anxiety at all, really. So, with all this in mind, what are my chances of getting infected with the brain-eating amoeba? I can definitely tell you this: I dread the ******* amoeba more so than I dread COVID-19. Last night, I had no symptoms, which is good. I felt slightly uneasy around then, but that’s because of the anxiety. Around the later part of the afternoon today (3:00 PM CDT, roughly) and I still had no symptoms as far as I know, and I could still taste. At that point, had just gotten out of the ocean with my family, and the uneasiness was still there along with the tiniest headache imaginable. I made some cereal for breakfast and it was really good, I remember. I could also taste the salt of the ocean’s water, which is a good sign. Furthermore, I ate a banana around that time and I remember it being really good. Now, it’s around 7:00 PM CDT, and I’m still a little bit worried, despite some signs showing I might be fine. About an hour ago, everyone was eating a great seafood dinner in our condo (I had grilled salmon, which is a really healthy meal). I thought it tasted great, but the hush puppy I had alongside it was horrible. I’ve never been able to smell, but my sister took a shower after me last night and said she smelled chlorine in the water, which I hope is another good sign. Now I’m sitting on my couch playing some Nintendo Switch games as I try to get the thought of the amoeba eating away at my brain out of my head. The harmless headache is still here, but the uneasiness has more or less faded. I’m just really scared, still. I can’t escape the fear of a severe migraine starting inside me head. I really don’t know what the hell is gonna happen, but I hope things don’t turn out badly. Please answer guys, I’m afraid I’m gonna die or some ****. If anyone could help ease my stress, I’d greatly appreciate it.

 

[Bobnnat]

Hi Sully. By now you know you’re ok. What you fear is incredibly rare and almost always found in fresh water lakes. Not near an ocean and not through a shower, especially in a good hotel or condo. There are less than a dozen cases a year, out of what, 350,000,000 people so like one in 3 million odds.

 

[Izthewiz]

Id not worry about nothing.
Most of the time people die without warning.
What kind of life are we living as slaves to anxiety?
Your odds are higher of dying in a car accident on the way home than the virus or that rare bacteria.
You have to let death and fear of that go.
I can guarantee you one day you'll die that's a fact.
Death is not the end but the surface of the book.

 

[Adel]

Hello dying of this is less possible than being hit by a lightening. There have been no cases of brain eating amoeba through the shower. Just chill you are not gone get it.

 

[Walking Circles]

You're fine. Tap water isn't really much of a concern for it because it's chlorinated and treated. Besides that Children seem more vulnerable to N. Fowleri than adults, and it is suspected that it may have something to do with the developmental of a plate in the upper sinuses that solidifies by the time we're twenty or so IIRC. Even then thousands and thousands of people get water up their nose daily, yet N. Fowleri is rather rare. It's mostly a concern in warm stagnant water that has been recently disturbed.