FRIDAY, Aug. 19, 2022 (HealthDay News) — The loss of life of a kid in Nebraska was doubtless brought on by an an infection with a “mind-consuming amoeba” that occurred after the kid swam in a neighborhood river, state well being officers introduced this week.In a information launch, officers mentioned it was the primary such loss of life ever reported within the state’s historical past. Known as Naegleria fowleri, the amoeba may cause main amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a mind an infection that’s extraordinarily uncommon, however practically at all times deadly.”Millions of leisure water exposures happen annually, whereas solely 0 to eight Naegleria fowleri infections are recognized annually,” state epidemiologist Matthew Donahue, M.D., famous within the information launch. “Infections sometimes happen later in the summertime, in hotter water with slower circulate, in July, August, and September. Cases are extra incessantly recognized in southern states, however extra just lately have been recognized farther north. Limiting the alternatives for freshwater to get into the nostril are the very best methods to scale back the chance of an infection.”The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is working to verify the reason for the kid’s loss of life by means of checks, Lindsay Huse, director of the Douglas County Health Department, mentioned throughout a Wednesday information convention on the kid’s loss of life, NBC News reported. Huse mentioned the kid had gone swimming on Aug. 8 in Nebraska’s Elkhorn River, grew to become symptomatic 5 days later, and was hospitalized inside 48 hours after signs started.The little one died on Aug. 18, Kari Neemann, M.D., medical advisor for Douglass County, mentioned throughout a information convention on the loss of life. Authorities haven’t launched further data on the kid out of respect for the household. The single-celled organism N. fowleri will be present in soil and in freshwater, akin to lakes, streams, scorching springs, and rivers. It can infect folks when contaminated water goes up the nostril. The amoeba has been present in Northern states extra typically as local weather change fuels rising air and water temperatures. The amoeba infects about three folks yearly within the United States and is usually deadly, based on the CDC. A complete of 154 recognized amebic meningoencephalitis infections occurred between 1962 and 2021. Only 4 of these contaminated survived.NBC News Article
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‘Brain-Eating Amoeba’ May Have Caused Nebraska Child’s Death – Consumer Health News
