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101

Child dies from brain-eating amoeba in South Carolina (www.independent.co.uk)

submitted 5 days ago by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

10 comments fedilink hide all child comments

A pediatric patient in a South Carolina hospital has died from a rare brain-eating amoeba.

The Prisma Health Children's Hospital patient recently died after contracting Naegleria fowleri, which infects the brain and destroys tissue, Pediatric Infectious Disease Physician Anna Kathryn Burch said Tuesday.

The hospital declined to share more details about the patient, and officials have not said where the infection occurred. State authorities say there is no broader risk to the public.

A case of Naegleria fowleri was confirmed in South Carolina during the week of July 7, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. There have been only 167 reported cases of the infection in the US between 1962 and 2024, the CDC reports. However, just four people have survived the infection.

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[–] Fredselfish@lemmy.world 33 points 5 days ago (7 children)

You know it stops being rare when it keeps happening. It soon will be impossible to swim in lakes and rivers, along with ponds soon. This is climate change. The warm weather, and wamer water is allowing these things to thrive.

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 25 points 5 days ago (6 children)

I mean they've always been active in the South. Any warm unchlorinated water means they'll be there eating bacteria. They just very rarely accidentally find themselves in your brain and start eating that. They're so common that the amount of people who have antibodies against them from finding their way into some random orifice is very high.

[–] Know_not_Scotty_does@lemmy.world 15 points 5 days ago (5 children)

It is one of my biggest semi-irrational fears but I had never considered that you could have antibodies for them.

[–] captain_aggravated@sh.itjust.works 2 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Would that mean we could vaccinate for them?

[–] roguetrick@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago

Opposite actually. PAM is because they end up locked behind the blood brain barrier where the really effective immune cells can't get to them. A vaccination is pointless because they are already easily destroyed by immune cells otherwise. It's like accidentally wandering into a bank vault full of Cheetos while they were delivering more Cheetos and getting yourself locked in for fowleri. A poor situation for them and a poor situation for the Cheeto Bank.

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