Many people got totally shocked with the news that a popular home remedy neti pot can cause death. Specialists exchanged their opinions on how general public should react to this revelation. Some said it's best to totally avoid using any nasal irrigation solution that has tap water as one of its ingredients. Others insisted that a neti pot should still remain a very safe and effective way to address various sinus problems; you just have to take several precautions before using it.The discussion accompanied lasted for many months online as well as in the general media. Now, that the dust has settled, it's time to put emotions aside and evaluate the facts.

Neti Pot Death Trail

A number of southern states have several lakes and rivers with warm, fresh water that is an ideal home for brain-eating bacteria. These bacteria are notorious for causing death in 99% of cases if they get into a human body. Relatively recently several kids died from brain infection after they swam and dove in a lake and caught this amoeba.Overall, there were 30+ deaths from these bacteria in the last 10 years in the US. Two victims got the infection through the tap water they used for making a salty solution for the neti pot. This means that up until now (October 2012) there were two confirmed fatal incidents that had a neti pot involved. Let's check the chronology.

1. The first death incident occurred in June, 2011 in Louisiana, when a young man died of encephalitis. The tests revealed the aforementioned amoeba caused the deadly infection. Before he died, a 20-year-old told his physician he'd been using a neti pot, but the traces of the bacteria were not found in his residence.


2. It wasn't until October, 2011 when the link between neti pot usage and encephalitis was finally confirmed.
   A 51-year-old woman was diagnosed with encephalitis caused by the brain-eating amoeba. This time the bacteria were found in the tap water that the woman presumably used for making a salty solution. She also said she'd been using this home remedy in the last several days.

It seems that both victims ignored the recommendation that says "one should use only distilled, boiled, or filtered water when preparing a solution for nasal irrigation". Fearing other casualties, US Department of Health released a statement advising people to never use tap water in such solutions.
In other words, it's the tap water that brought amoeba to the victims' brains. Neti pot (as other home remedies for sinus problems) is just a tool that helps to put this tap water within a very close proximity to the brain. Using distilled, boiled, or filtered water you ensure there's absolutely no chance for amoeba to reach your brain.
Net pot death is in fact possible under certain circumstances. Yet, the chances of catching brain-eating bacteria with this home remedy are quite dismal. Moreover, once you take several easy measures, these chances become equal to zero and there's absolutely no risk using a neti pot.