A 10-year-old girl in Texas is fighting for her life after
contracting a brain-eating amoeba and rare illness.
Lily Avant has been in the hospital for several days and is
currently in a medically-induced coma while doctors treat swelling in her
brain.
Avant first contracted Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred
to as brain-eating amoeba. The amoeba is typically found in warm fresh water
and soil and Avant's family believes she contracted it while swimming in a
river over Labor Day weekend. On Sunday, Sept. 8, she contracted a fever, and
Wendy Scott, Avant's first cousin once removed, told KXAS-TV, the NBC affiliate
in Dallas, that she was seen by a doctor that night.
"They got it checked out," she said. "There
were several viruses going around the school. It was assumed it's a virus
because the symptoms are exactly the same, so she was sent home."
Scott said that over the course of a few days, Avant's
condition deteriorated.
"She was brought into the emergency room on Tuesday
when she woke up unresponsive," Scott explained. "She was eyes open,
she was there, but she wasn't speaking. Nothing."
The amoeba, which enters the body through the nose and
cannot be swallowed, is known to cause a brain infection called primary amebic
meningoencephalitis (PAM), according to the CDC. While the amoeba itself is
common, according to the Texas Department of State Health Services, PAM is rare
and almost always fatal. There have only been five documented cases of
survival.
"We average less than one per year in Texas. However,
it is extremely serious and almost always fatal. Since it's so rare, we don't
know why a few people get sick while millions who swim in natural bodies of
water don't," an agency spokesperson for the Texas Department of State
Health Services explained. "Because the organism is common in lakes and
rivers, we don't recommend people specifically avoid bodies of water where
people have contracted the illness."
Scott added that the family is doing everything they can to
spread awareness about the amoeba and the potential infection.
https://www.today.com/health/texas-girl-contracted-brain-eating-amoeba-while-swimming-t162600
https://childnervoussystem.blogspot.com/2019/07/pam-is-very-bad-thing-primary-amoebic.html
The 10-year-old girl who was on life support after contracting a brain-eating amoeba while swimming in a Texas river has died, her family said…
ReplyDelete“After many tests at the local family doctor, ibuprofen and hydration was instructed,” according to the Facebook group. “After hearing what they thought were sounds of Lily having a nightmare in her sleep, mom quickly realized Lily was beginning the fight of her life. She was incoherent, unresponsive and was quickly swept up and taken to the ER.”
The post revealed that doctors began treating her for both bacterial and viral meningitis, but after she landed at Cook Children’s, she went for a spinal tap which revealed Naegleria fowleri, also known as brain-eating amoeba…
The chances of contracting a brain-eating amoeba in the U.S. remain rare. Between 2009 and 2018, the CDC tracked 34 infections in people nationwide. However, the fatality rate remains at over 87 percent, with only four people surviving out of the 145 individuals in the U.S. ever reported to have contracted the amoeba.
The family had been hopeful that an antimicrobial medication called miltefosine would rid her of the amoeba, but on Monday, one of her aunts revealed in a Facebook post that she had died.
“Words can not begin to express how overwhelming this past week has been for our family,” Wendy Scott posted, in part. “We have been flooded by your love and support and feel incredibly humbled by how many lives have been impacted by our sweet and sassy, Lily Mae. Our beautiful girl is completely healed and in the arms of Jesus.”
https://www.foxnews.com/health/texas-girl-brain-eating-amoeba-dies-family-says