REVIEW article
Front. Microbiol.
Sec. Aquatic Microbiology
Volume 16 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2025.1686695
This article is part of the Research TopicMitigating Microbial Contamination of Drinking Water SourcesView all 8 articles
A Review of the Mechanism, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Naegleria fowleri Infection
Provisionally accepted
Ling Dai1
Xin-Ru Guo1
Xu-Rui Chen1Ming-Hao Ma1Zi-Han Liu1Juan Lai1
Jun Lu1Ming Feng1*Xi-Xia Liu2*
Sheng-Hui Yang1*- 1Hunan University of Chinese Medicine, Changsha, China
- 2Insurance Professional College, Changsha, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Naegleria fowleri is a rare pathogen responsible for primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a fatal central nervous system infection characterized by rapid clinical progression and an extremely high mortality rate. The existing diagnostic methods are insufficiently sensitive, and therapeutic options are minimal, making early recognition and intervention extremely challenging. This review systematically examines the biological characteristics and pathogenic mechanisms of this pathogen, as well as current diagnostic and treatment strategies, with a particular focus on the groundbreaking applications of emerging technologies such as metagenomic next-generation sequencing (mNGS) in the diagnosis of difficult-to-treat infections. The aim is to provide theoretical support and practical guidance for rapid identification, accurate diagnosis, and timely intervention in clinical practice, serving as a reference for the prevention and treatment of N. fowleri infections.
Keywords: Naegleria fowleri, Primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, Pathogenesis, diagnostics, Therapeutics
Received: 15 Aug 2025; Accepted: 06 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Dai, Guo, Chen, Ma, Liu, Lai, Lu, Feng, Liu and Yang. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
Ming Feng, 514867841@qq.com
Xi-Xia Liu, 44107855@qq.com
Sheng-Hui Yang, shenghuiyang@126.com
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.