This story is heartbreaking, but an important reminder as we head into cold and flu season to always follow all medical instructions carefully.
A 69-year-old woman from Seattle has died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba from using tap water in her neti pot. The woman was suffering from a chronic sinus infection when her doctor told her to rinse her sinuses with the neti pot twice a day. She reportedly used tap water filtered through a Brita Water Purifier in the pot. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that only distilled, sterile or cooled boiled water be used for sinus irrigation.