Hannah Collins, 11, was exposed to the amoeba while swimming on July 24 in the Edisto River in Charleston County, and on Tuesday health officials in the state confirmed that a young girl had come in contact with Naegleria fowleri.
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Thirty seven Americans were infected with the amoeba between 2006 and 2015, and only three of those people managed to survive.
“This organism occurs naturally and is all around us and is present in many warm water lakes, rivers and streams, but infection in humans is very rare”, said state epidemiologist Dr. Linda Bell of the state Department of Health and Environmental Control. The amoeba “is naturally present in warm fresh water”, authorities state, though it is rare to contract it. He said that they are part of natural environment and go into hibernations in the wintertime. Only 40 cases were reported in the U.S.in the last decade.
A drug used to treat patients infected with Naegleria fowleri was couriered overnight Tuesday from Orlando, Florida, to Charleston.
Infection from Naegleria fowleri leads to a disease of the central nervous system called primary amebic meningoencephalitis.
Over the past ten years, there have been less than 40 cases of the brain-eating amoeba infecting people (which is a small percentage).
Tteor Disease Control has confirmed the presence of naegleria fowleri, a potentially fatal “brain-eating” amoeba, in the water in SC.
In most cases symptoms do not begin to emerge until two weeks after the amoeba has begun to attack brain tissue and as a result patients are given only two weeks to live at that point. The amoeba is common in warm-water lakes, rivers and streams but infection is rare, the release said.
According to Bell, one must jump feet-first into a body of water containing the amoeba, allowing the water to enter the nose with enough force for the amoeba to make its way to the brain.
Doctors recommend holding your nose or using nose plugs when jumping in the water because just drinking the water containing the amoeba doesn’t contaminate you. The CDC said only 10 cases or so are reported each year, almost all of them fatal. Death usually occurs within five to 18 days of exposure to the organism, with early symptoms resembling a fever but worsens into seizures hallucinations, stiff neck, and lack of balance later on, the CDC listed. “You can not be infected by merely drinking water containing the amoeba”, Dr. Bell said.
As noted, infections are exceptionally rare, so there’s no need to fret every time you or your loved ones go for a swim in a warm body of water.
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Families who have lost children to the amoeba are fighting to have hospitals keep the experimental medication on hand.
