A fourth U.S. case this year of an amoeba infection that has killed nearly every person that has contracted it was reported Tuesday by the Florida Department of Health.
The person who contracted the infection, health officials say, was swimming on private property in an unsanitary body of water in Broward County, and the threat of the Naefleria fowleri infection is not considered a public risk. The gender and age of the person has not been released.
(Update: Sebastian DeLeon, 16, the teen who contracted the infection, has survived, doctors at Florida Hospital for Children said Tuesday. They induced a coma, lowered his body temperature to 33 degrees and gave him an anti-parasitic drug called miltefosine. DeLeon is just one of four people in the United States who have survived a Naegleria infection in the past 50 years.)
The parasite that causes the rare brain infection is most often found in warm freshwater, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Earlier this month, Hannah Collins, a South Carolina girl, died after contracting Naegleria fowleri. An Ohio teen died in June from the infection.
Here’s a quick look at the parasite, what it does to the body and how to try to avoid it.
What is Naegleria fowleri?
Naegleria is an ameba commonly found in warm freshwater. According to the CDC, only one species of Naegleria infects people: Naegleria fowleri.
How do you get it?
You can get a Naegleria fowleri infection from swimming in warm freshwater or being splashed by infected water. There have also been cases of the infection from people using contaminated water to cleanse their nasal passages. According to the CDC, “Naegleria fowleri is naturally found in warm freshwater environments such as lakes and rivers, naturally hot (geothermal) water such as hot springs, warm water discharge from industrial or power plants, geothermal well water, poorly maintained or minimally chlorinated swimming pools, water heaters and soil. Naegleria fowleri is commonly present in many southern tier lakes in the U.S. during the summer but infections have also recently occurred in northern states. Naegleria is not found in salt water, like the ocean.”
How common is an infection?
Not common at all. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there have been only 138 cases in some 53 years.
What does it do?
The parasite enters the nervous system through the nose. The amoeba eats the olfactory bulbs then moves up the nerve fibers to the floor of the skull. There, it enters the brain.
The parasite then begins to eat brain cells. From that comes the brain infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis.
What are the symptoms?
According to the CDC:
Symptoms usually start about 5 days after infection (but can range from 1–9 days)
They can include headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting Later symptoms can include stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures, and hallucinations.
After symptoms start, the disease causes death within about 5 days (but can range from 1–12 days)
What are your chances?
Not very good. The condition has a 98 percent death rate. In fact, there have only been four people who survived of the 138 documented cases -- one in the U.S. in 1978, one in Mexico in 2003, and two additional survivors from the U.S. in 2013. Early detection, which can be difficult, seems to be one of the keys. Some say the survivors likely had strains of the disease that were less virulent.
What actually kills you?
Elevated pressure in the brain that comes from the infection and the loss of brain cells.
Any treatment?
Miltefosine, a drug used to treat breast cancer, has shown promise. That drug, plus cooling the body, is what doctors have been doing for recent patients.
How do you lower your chances of infection?
The CDC recommends:
Avoid diving, jumping, or swimming in bodies of freshwater during periods of high water temperature.
Hold your nose shut, use nose clips, or keep your head above water when taking part in water-related activities in bodies of warm freshwater.
Avoid putting your head under the water in hot springs and other untreated thermal waters.
Avoid digging in, or stirring up, the sediment while taking part in water-related activities in shallow, warm freshwater areas.
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