JOHNSON COUNTY, Kan. - A 9-year-old Kansas girl is dead from a "brain-eating amoeba" after swimming in several area lakes near her home, state health officials say.
the reference article is: http://www.cbsnews.com/news/girl-9-dies-from-brain-eating-amoeba-infection/
Hally Nicole Yust died Wednesday from primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) caused by Naegleria fowleri, the Kansas Department of Health and Environment has determined, according to CBS affiliate KCTV.
Hally's death is the second case of PAM caused by the bacteria in Kansas, the first was in 2011. Investigators say she had been in four bodies of water in Kansas, so exactly where she contracted the infection is difficult to determine.
If one is splashing around in the MUD or swimming in an amoebae infected water source or pond, don't get the water in one's nose or eyes (or the mud from splashes).
The amoeba are commonly found in freshwater sources, including lakes, rivers and hot springs. Initial symptoms include headache, nausea, fever and vomiting, followed by confusion, loss of balance, seizures and hallucination. Death can occur in 12 days.
If you have and have those symptoms, well, faster the better to try to get some treatment. Some people have survived with some radically different procedures than what normal medicine would use.
http://kctv.images.worldnow.com/images/25998330_BG3.jpg
survivor: http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/12/health/arkansas-amoeba-survivor/
12-year-old Kali Hardig survived..
What they did that contributed to her survival:
Dr. Sanjiv Pasala, one of Kali's attending physicians, said doctors immediately started treating her with an anti-fungal medicine, antibiotics and a new experimental anti-amoeba drug doctors got directly from the CDC. They also reduced the girl's body temperature to 93 degrees. Doctors have used that technique in some brain injury cases to preserve undamaged brain tissue.
'Death within one to 12 days'
Kali is one of two 12-year-olds who recently contracted the amoeba. Zachary Reyna of Florida died last month of the parasite, even after receiving the same experimental drug that was given to Kali. He contracted the amoeba after kneeboarding in a water-filled ditch by his house August 3, his family told CNN affiliate WBBH.
Naegleria fowleri is found in hot springs and warm fresh water, most often in the southeastern United States.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2011/12/16/article-2074957-0F3264ED00000578-354_468x203.jpg
"Ninety-nine percent of people who get it die," Haselow said.
Between 2001 and 2010, there were 32 reported cases in the United States, the CDC says. Most of the cases were in the Southeast.
"If you believe that there's something more wrong with your daughter or your son than a simple virus or stomach flu, stay in there, hang in there. Talk to the doctor... and reassure them that this is not a normal illness."
"Based on the occurrence of two cases of this rare infection in association with the same body of water and the unique features of the park, the ADH has asked the owner of Willow Springs to voluntarily close the water park to ensure the health and safety of the public," the news release said.
What's in your pool water? (or pond water, or hot spring water)
http://mw2.google.com/mw-panoramio/photos/medium/55947311.jpg
Matt P
13th July 2014, 22:22
I grew up in the country, swimming in dammed creeks and spent summers on Lake Cumberland in Ky. This was about 30 years ago. Today, I don't go to these "natural" bodies of water anymore. I hate that skiing, tubing and rope swinging aren't as much a part of my kids' lives as they were for mine but we've so contaminated our waterways, it seems to be the smart decision to stay out of them. In this day and age, you have to be vigilant because of the massive global corporate contamination of the planet. This amoeba is pretty scary but it's also pretty rare. Far more common is e coli, and the percentage numbers in local lakes, streams and rivers is beyond acceptable.
Matt
Agape
13th July 2014, 23:29
It's absolutely horrid . The only thing that comes to my mind is experience from years back in India where the amoeba infection from water is rather common one ,
and symptoms can vary from mild to severe , can be possibly even lethal though those cases are rare .
The problem is that it's been very hard to treat by allopathic medicines, people who contracted this often carried it with them back home and some suffered from diarrhoea and indigestion for many years to come .
There's traditional Ayurvedic - herbal - medicine called 'Amoebica'
http://www.deliverathome.com/BAIDYANATH-PRODUCTS/Baidyanath-Amoebica-Tablet-25-Tablets.html
It works miracles . It's ages old recipe and it's actually the only medicine despite being 'only herbs' that's known to work for several types of amoebas ,
known to dissolve the membranes of their cells so wiping them out effectively from the system .
It should be tested in some sort of lab and clinical trial whether there's any merit in it , even if as part of possible treatment ..
One would think that getting an amoeba infection from one's tap water would not happen.
Hally Nicole Yust mentioned in the OP it was said had caught the infection from one of 4 lakes. They don't know for sure, which one. She was an avid water-sports enthusiast (at age 9) according to her parents, and she was home schooled. They said she was highly active, always into pushing for the most outdoor excitement.
Fox reported though back in 2012 this:
Following the deaths of two people from Louisiana who contracted brain-eating amoeba infections from their own home water systems last year, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration are warning people to follow appropriate guidelines when using a popular home remedy for sinus infections.
The victims, a 28-year-old man and a 51-year-old woman from different parts of the state, died from primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) – an almost universally fatal infection – after using neti pots filled with tap water to irrigate their sinuses.
Do you remember seeing Dr. Oz recommending using the Neti-Pots to perform nasal irrigation?
Water samples taken from the victims’ homes tested positive for Naegleria fowleri (N. fowleri), a climate-sensitive amoeba found in warm freshwater lakes and rivers. N. fowleri has over a 99 percent fatality rate, with only one known survivor in the U.S. since 1962.
In response to the findings, the CDC and FDA are reminding consumers to use boiled, distilled or filtered water when using neti pots or other nasal-rinsing devices.
“Some tap water contains low levels of organisms, such as bacteria and protozoa, including amoebas, which may be safe to swallow because stomach acid kills them,” the FDA said in a released statement. “But these ‘bugs’ can stay alive in nasal passages and cause potentially serious infections.”
(I wonder if testing one's tap water will be a necessity? Can something like total organic mater testing, not just a "fecal matter" test show if one is getting some type of organic bug in the water?)
First reported infections from tap water
The Louisiana deaths are the first reported PAM cases in the United States associated with treated municipal water, though cases have been reported previously in Australia and Pakistan, and two cases in Arizona in 2002 were linked with untreated well water, according to the CDC.
“What the victims both had in common were they were both regular users of nasal irrigation and used tap water from their homes,” said Jonathon Yoder, coordinator of the Waterborne Disease and Outbreak Surveillance System at the CDC. “We were able to identify [N. fowleri] organisms in the pipes of each of their homes.”
According to Yoder, it is unclear how the amoeba entered the pipes, but once inside, the organisms were able to survive and spread through the hot water system.
Because these were the first U.S. cases of amoeba spreading through disinfected home water supplies, there are no formal recommendations to kill or prevent N. fowleri in this setting. There have been no studies conducted to date looking at the prevalence of amoeba in home water pipes, Yoder said.
However, he stressed that, “it’s not the point of this investigation to say that people should have their water tested [for amoeba] – one of the takeaways is that infection is not associated with general things like drinking water, bathing or showering. It seems to be associated with water directly forced up the nose during irrigation.”
Highly rare – but spreading
Though rare – typically less than 10 cases are reported per year – PAM is frequently associated with swimming in warm, untreated water. The median age of patients is 12 years old, and the majority of infections occur in boys.
“The highest ever amount of reported infections was eight in 1980, and some years no cases are reported at all,” Yoder said. “Certainly, it’s a very rare infection. Unfortunately, for the families of those infected, it’s very tragic because it almost certainly leads to death.”
While N. fowleri is profiled as a warm-weather amoeba found primarily in Southern states, CDC tracking has increasingly found incidences of infection in Northern states as well – expanding its believed geographic range. Recent case reports have detailed infections in Kansas, Virginia and even as far north as Minnesota in 2010.
Yoder speculated the change may be due to prolonged heat waves in Northern regions and advised that physicians and the public at large in those areas be aware of the potential for infection.
“It’s something that physicians in (those) areas should keep in mind, especially during prolonged heat weaves,” Yoder said.
reference: http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/08/23/health-officials-link-brain-eating-amoeba-deaths-to-tap-water/
Gastrointestinal forms of amoeba infections
Because these parasites live in the large intestine, they travel in the feces of infected people, and can contaminate water supplies in places where sanitation is poor. The parasite can contaminate fruits and vegetables grown in areas where human feces are used as fertilizer. They can be transferred on the dirty hands of infected people who don't wash their hands often or correctly.
Once amoebas enter the mouth, they travel through the digestive system and settle in the large intestine. Harmless strains of the parasite (Entamoeba dispar) live there without causing damage. E. histolytica can live in the intestine without causing symptoms, but it also can cause severe disease. These amoebas may invade the wall of the intestine, leasing to amoebic dysentery, an illness that causes intestinal ulcers, bleeding, increased mucus production and diarrhea. These amoebas also may pass into the bloodstream and travel to the liver or, infrequently, to the brain, where they form pockets of infection (abscesses).
About 10% of the world's population is infected with amoebas, particularly people who live in Mexico, India, Central America, South America, Africa and the tropical areas of Asia. In industrialized countries, amebiasis is most common in recent immigrants and travelers who visit countries where amoebas are prevalent.
In more than 90% of cases, the infecting strain of amoeba does not cause any symptoms. When symptoms do occur, they usually begin within months after amoebas first enter the body. In some people, the symptoms are mild, consisting of mild pain and gurgling sounds in the lower abdomen, along with two or three loose stools daily. In other people, however, there can be full-blown symptoms of amoebic dysentery, including high fever, severe abdominal pain and 10 or more episodes of diarrhea daily. Typically, this diarrhea is watery or contains blood and mucus.
When amoebas spread to the liver and cause liver abscess, symptoms can include fever, nausea, vomiting, and pain in the upper right portion of the abdomen, weight loss and an enlarged liver. It is possible for a person to develop symptoms of an amoebic liver abscess without ever having had the diarrhea typical of infection.
Expected Duration
Harmless amoebas can live in the intestines for years without causing symptoms. When invasive amoebas cause symptoms of amoebic dysentery, attacks can last from a few days to several weeks. Unless you are treated, you can have another attack.
Conventional Treatment
Gastrointestinal amebiasis is treated with nitroimidazole drugs, which kill amoebas in the blood, in the wall of the intestine and in liver abscesses.
These drugs include metronidazole (Flagyl) and tinidazole (Tindamax, Fasigyn). Metronidazole usually is given for 10 days, either by mouth or directly into the veins (intravenously).
To kill amoebas and cysts confined to the intestine, three drugs called luminal drugs are available: iodoquinol (Diquinol and others), paromomycin (Humatin) and diloxanide furoate (Furamide). One of these drugs is used along with metronidazole when gastrointestinal symptoms are present. In people who pass amoebas in their stools without having symptoms of amebiasis, the luminal drugs alone can clear the amoebas from the bowel.
See your health practitioner whenever you have continuing diarrhea, especially if it contains blood and mucus. If you have severe abdominal pain, especially in the right upper side, and a fever, visit a doctor the same day. When you have non-bloody diarrhea that is frequent and symptoms of dehydration such as dizziness, get medical assistance. You could have amebiasis.
Prognosis
Drug treatment can cure amebiasis within a few weeks. However, because medication cannot keep you from getting infected again, repeat episodes of amebiasis may occur if you continue to live in or travel to areas where amoebas are found. Among children in developing countries, especially infants and those younger than 5, gastrointestinal amebiasis can be fatal. Worldwide, amebiasis is the third most common cause of death from parasitic infections.
http://www.drugs.com/health-guide/gastrointestinal-amebiasis.html
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