‘Brain-Eating Amoeba’ May Have Caused Nebraska Child’s Death – Physician’s Weekly

FRIDAY, Aug. 19, 2022 (HealthDay Information) — The dying of a kid in Nebraska was probably brought on by an an infection with a “brain-eating 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 dying ever reported within the state’s historical past. Generally known as Naegleria fowleri, the amoeba may cause major amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a mind an infection that’s extraordinarily uncommon, however almost at all times deadly.

“Tens of 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 circulation, in July, August, and September. Circumstances are extra regularly recognized in southern states, however extra lately have been recognized farther north. Limiting the alternatives for freshwater to get into the nostril are one of the best methods to scale back the chance of an infection.”

The U.S. Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention is working to verify the reason for the kid’s dying by means of exams, Lindsay Huse, director of the Douglas County Well being Division, mentioned throughout a Wednesday information convention on the kid’s dying, NBC Information 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 kid died on Aug. 18, Kari Neemann, M.D., medical advisor for Douglass County, mentioned throughout a information convention on the dying. Authorities haven’t launched extra data on the kid out of respect for the household.

The only-celled organism N. fowleri may be present in soil and in freshwater, equivalent to lakes, streams, sizzling springs, and rivers. It may possibly infect individuals 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 individuals yearly in the US and is usually deadly, in line with the CDC. A complete of 154 recognized amebic meningoencephalitis infections occurred between 1962 and 2021. Solely 4 of these contaminated survived.

NBC Information Article

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