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There was a House episode about that , crazy.
http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/1...in-eating.html
Crazy stuff, didn't find out about it till today when I dropped a pt off at MCH.A 12-year-old Southwest Florida boy who contracted a rare and deadly infection from a “brain-eating” amoeba is being treated at Miami Children’s Hospital, state health officials have confirmed.The boy, Zachary Reyna of Labelle, near Fort Myers, was infected with Naegleria fowleri — a microscopic single-celled living amoeba that is commonly found in freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers. Family members said the boy was infected while knee boarding with friends in a ditch near his family's home on Aug. 3.
In the body, the amoeba can cause a rare brain infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) that destroys brain tissue and is usually fatal, the Florida Department of Health said in a news release Tuesday. State officials confirmed the boy is battling PAM and said infections from the amoeba are rare.
“The effects of PAM on the individuals who contract the amoeba are tragic,’’ said Carina Blackmore, Florida's interim state epidemiologist. “We want to remind Floridians to be wary when swimming, jumping or diving in fresh water when water temperatures are high and water levels are low. If you are partaking in recreational swimming activities during this time, please take necessary precautions and remind your family and friends to do the same.”
Victims typically are exposed to the bug while swimming or doing water sports in warm ponds, lakes, rivers and canals during the hot summer months, mostly in the South.
The boy’s parents are keeping vigil by his bedside in the intensive care unit at the South Miami hospital and have created a Facebook page, pray4number4, to give updates on their son’s condition:
“Zac is still fighting. Doctors are saying things have not changed. We are still strong on our end because we know God will step in when He is ready. Keep praying...Thank you all for your support and please continue to pray for my family,” they wrote in the latest update.
Bridgette Cochran, whose son was with the boy when he likely was exposed, told the News-Press of Fort Myers that two other boys playing with Zachary at the time did not get sick. She said they were playing in a channel that children frequent during rainy summer months.
Experts say the amoeba gets up the nose and travels to the brain where it causes PAM, which destroys brain tissue. It's a medical mystery why some people who swim in amoeba-containing water get the fatal nervous system condition while many others don't.
"The low number of infections makes it difficult to know why a few people have been infected compared to the millions of other people that used the same or similar waters across the U.S.," Florida officials said in their news release.
Initial symptoms usually start within 1 to 7 days and may include headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. The disease progresses rapidly, and other symptoms can include stiff neck, confusion, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations.
State officials said people can reduce the risks of becoming infected by limiting the amount of water going up the nose, avoiding water-related activities in warm freshwater when temperatures are high and water levels are low, and avoid digging in or stirring up sediment while in shallow, warm freshwater areas.
Florida officials cited federal statistics showing that 28 infections were reported in the U.S. from 2003 to 2012, mostly from exposure to contaminated recreational water. A person cannot be infected with the amoeba by drinking contaminated water, state officials said, and the amoeba is not found in salt water.
Read more here: http://www.miamiherald.com/2013/08/1...#storylink=cpy
There was a House episode about that , crazy.
Just read that there's a girl in Arkansas who's fighting it right now too--and succeeding due to hypothermia treatment and an experimental drug.
From Wiki:
- According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the protist killed 33 people between 1998 and 2007. In the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, 32 infections were reported in the U.S. Of those cases, 30 people were infected by contaminated recreational water and two people were infected by water from a geothermal (naturally hot) drinking water supply.[20] In 2011, there were two unusual cases in which Louisiana residents died after becoming infected by using neti pots with household tap water, leading to CDC recommendations against using untreated tap water.[21]
- 7 year old Kyle Lewis lost his battle against the brain eating amoeba in August 2010 and his family has started The Kyle Lewis Amoeba Awareness Foundation. www.KyleCares.com [22]
- A girl came down with the disease in 2013 after swimming in the same Arkansas water park where a boy from the state had died three years earlier; she was hospitalized in critical condition at Arkansas Children's Hospital. Her doctors lowered her core temperature to 93 degrees Fahrenheit to preserve her brain tissue; furthermore, in addition to the standard treatment regimen, they are giving her - courtesy of the CDC - an experimental drug. The amoeba is no longer present in her cerebrospinal fluid and her condition upgraded to "fair". Her survival would be extremely rare as just two patients have survived an infection out of the 128 do ented cases in the past half-century
A couple summers ago, me and about 6 friends got very ill from swimming in a lower water area of the Blanco river - I almost went to the hospital just because I was worried it was something like this. Crazy stuff.
not a big issue imho, you don't need a brain living in Florida
Last edited by Rogue; 08-14-2013 at 08:51 PM.
BOOM!!!
Nah for real though, I hope that boy can be the third to survive it.
if you swim in stagnant water you're at risk of getting a brain eating amoeba that goes through your eyeball. i know someone who lost an eye from it because the idiot swam in a non-chlorinated pool.
that was in arkansas as well lol
The stuff I swam in growing up would kill most reptiles. It's amazing I'm not dead.
The boy died.
They are donating his organs. RIP.
RIP
Over 98% mortality rate and rising...we need to harvest this parasite in the Rio Grande
Very SadRIP.
RIP
RIP little angel.
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