6 die from brain-eating amoeba

.Kairi. · Sep 29, 2007

6 die from brain-eating amoeba after swimming
Rare organism that lives in lakes entered victimsâ€™ bodies through the nose
PHOENIX - It sounds like science fiction but itâ€™s true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.

Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, itâ€™s killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.

â€œThis is definitely something we need to track,â€ said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

â€œThis is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better,â€ Beach said. â€œIn future decades, as temperatures rise, weâ€™d expect to see more cases.â€

According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWLâ€™-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases â€” three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.

In Arizona, David Evans said nobody knew his son, Aaron, was infected with the amoeba until after the 14-year-old died on Sept. 17. At first, the teen seemed to be suffering from nothing more than a headache.

â€œWe didnâ€™t know,â€ Evans said. â€œAnd here I am: I come home and Iâ€™m burying him.â€

After doing more tests, doctors said Aaron probably picked up the amoeba a week before while swimming in the balmy shallows of Lake Havasu, a popular man-made lake on the Colorado River between Arizona and California.

Deadly infection
Though infections tend to be found in southern states, Naegleria lives almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools, grazing off algae and bacteria in the sediment.

Beach said people become infected when they wade through shallow water and stir up the bottom. If someone allows water to shoot up the nose â€” say, by doing a somersault in chest-deep water â€” the amoeba can latch onto the olfactory nerve.

The amoeba destroys tissue as it makes its way up into the brain, where it continues the damage, â€œbasically feeding on the brain cells,â€ Beach said.

People who are infected tend to complain of a stiff neck, headaches and fevers. In the later stages, theyâ€™ll show signs of brain damage such as hallucinations and behavioral changes, he said.

Once infected, most people have little chance of survival. Some drugs have stopped the amoeba in lab experiments, but people who have been attacked rarely survive, Beach said.

â€œUsually, from initial exposure itâ€™s fatal within two weeks,â€ he said.

Researchers still have much to learn about Naegleria. They donâ€™t know why, for example, children are more likely to be infected, and boys are more often victims than girls.

â€œBoys tend to have more boisterous activities (in water), but we€™re not clear,â€ Beach said.
Click to expand...

im not swimming in lakes anymore....

Emo Pengwin · Sep 29, 2007

That's very sickening...
And just when we were learning about all that stuff in Science, too...

Luckily we don't have lakes where I live...
Jusr ocean, sounds, marshes, and waterways/rivers.

Maiwyn · Sep 29, 2007

*shudders* That's a scary thought.
*shivers*
Scary.

Thebazilly · Sep 29, 2007

Ewww. It's lucky that the lakes I go to are all cold.

Hakurei Reimu · Sep 29, 2007

Remind me to put on a facemask and snorkeling gear when swimming or riding on a boat...

White_Rook · Sep 29, 2007

The odds of it becoming a mass-death kind of thing are just astronomical though. In most cases the microbes that manage to enter our bodies are destroyed by our immune systems. It may make people think about where they like to swim, but really this is a freak accident determined by heavy odds.

Frodis · Sep 29, 2007

Well thats just lovely.
I wont swim in lakes anymore.

TabbyRoxas · Sep 30, 2007

Crap, that's freaky. Hope it doesnt happen in Australia.

Repliku · Sep 30, 2007

TabbyRoxas said: ↑

Crap, that's freaky. Hope it doesnt happen in Australia.
Click to expand...

According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWLâ€™-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases â€” three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.
Click to expand...

Seems that it was first discovered there, so yeah, Australia obviously has had it happen there. It is a freak thing and so I wouldn't worry about it too much but yeah, it does encourage one to not want to swim in lakes down south very much anymore. How sad for those people who get it by surprise and just might think it's a virus. =:/

Inasuma · Sep 30, 2007

I lol'd when I read the title.

Sounds like something that would come out of the onion, too. lol

no-reality_allowed · Sep 30, 2007

And here I am about to go swim in a lake >_>

Thanks for ruining my day. Thanks alot.

I want to see a picture of this thing. I keep imagining a see-through purple slime thing XD

Log in or Sign up

6 die from brain-eating amoeba

.Kairi. Kingdom Keeper

Emo Pengwin Hollow Bastion Committee

Maiwyn Destiny Islands Resident

Thebazilly King's Apprentice

Hakurei Reimu Take my hand. And then I'll fly with you right up

White_Rook Looser than a wizard's sleeve.

Frodis Gummi Ship Junkie

TabbyRoxas Twilight Town Denizen

Repliku Chaser

Premium

Inasuma "pumpkin"

Premium

no-reality_allowed Â¢ℓαιяνσуαηт ℓσνєкιℓℓ