California boy dies of rare brain-eating amoeba after swimming in lake

[marmar]

RED BLUFF, Calif. — A child infected with an extremely rare brain-eating amoeba while swimming in a Northern California lake died in a hospital, his family confirmed Friday.

David Pruitt, 7, of Tehama County, died from primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, or PAM, on Aug. 7, said his aunt, Crystal Hayley.

The boy was rushed to the emergency room on July 30 and then flown to UC Davis Medical Center where he was on life support with severe brain swelling, Hayley said in a fundraising site she created for the family to raise funds for his care and funeral.

The infection is extremely rare, and there have only been 10 cases reported in California since 1971, the Tehama County Health Services Agency said in an Aug. 4 news release. It said the boy was likely infected in a lake in Tehama County but didn’t identify the boy or say where he got infected. ..............(more)

https://www.freep.com/story/news/nation/2021/08/15/7-year-old-california-boy-dies-brain-eating-amoeba-swimming/8144701002/

[USALiberal]

1. Lucky this is very rare! Nt

[Baitball Blogger]

2. We get at least one case in Florida every year or two.

[notinkansas]

3. I would think it would be in the public interest

to provide the name of that lake.

[The_REAL_Ecumenist]

6. I live in northern California and own acreage in that county....it does NOT surprise me at all

Last edited Mon Aug 16, 2021, 12:18 PM - Edit history (1)

that they refuse to name the lake because it's a county chockful of idiots that kiss republican ass like they were platinum plated. It also has horrifically high rates of tweakers, in fact, when we bought our acreage, we were warned not to leave our vehicle unoccupied when stopping at the local convenience store because we would come out to find it stripped. It's BAD! They're only concerned about money, "tourism" & appearances. Doubtlessly, more people will get infected and this time, their families will sue the living f#$k out of all the people who decided that, the county & everyne else who made this murderous decision.

[Ms. Toad]

13. I kind of doubt that there will be more infections -

Given that there have only been 10 since 1971. If it was the lake itself, there would likely have been significantly more infections.

(That's not to say I would head out there for a swim anytime soon, but it doesn't seem like something that is a significant risk in that particular lake - or in any lake where one of the prior 10 incidents happen.)

Doing a bit more research - it seems like a risk for hot springs, so this seems even more unusual since there isn't any mention of the lake being a hot spring.

N. fowleri is found in warm freshwater lakes, ponds, and hot springs worldwide, but PAM is rare. In 2014, a Florida boy aged 11 years developed fatal PAM after exposure to a hot spring and river pond in Costa Rica where N. fowleri was identified (2). In the United States, 145 PAM cases were reported during 1962–2018 (range = 0–8 cases annually); most cases occurred in young males exposed to warm recreational waters during the summer months† (3). Infection occurs when water containing N. fowleri enters the nose, usually while a person is swimming or diving. The ameba migrates from the nose to the brain along the olfactory nerve through the cribriform plate, destroys brain tissue, and causes cerebral edema. The case fatality rate for PAM exceeds 97% (3), and the median time from symptom onset to death is 5 days (4). Infection is not transmitted by swallowing contaminated water.

I couldn't find the entire list of prior incidents - but here is the oldest, and the 9th, I believe:

2018: Inyo County, in the Eastern Sierra region of California
1971: Desert hot spring in southern California - 1st incident

[sir pball]

8. Why would they? N. fowleri is a rather common amoeba

It's easily found in shallow, warm-to-hot (above 80°F) freshwater; odds are if you've ever been swimming in a pond that warm, you've been around the amoeba. I know in the South, any "wild" water is considered contaminated and wearing noseplugs is a must; I'd simply assume the same for any water in the county this occured in.

[notinkansas]

9. Why - because one child is already dead and

most people probably don't reason about those odds. The water was described as a lake, which people would reasonably expect to be safer than a pond. It really should be specifically identified.

[sir pball]

11. No. A blanket notification should be issued.

Naming one body of water will lead people to believe others may be safer, when the reality is that this part of California has likely warmed up enough so that Nagleria has colonized the watwrways.

A PSA should be released stating that *all* untreated bodies of water in the area are potential Nagleria sources and anyone swimming in *any* untreated water, not just one specific body, should take appropriate precautions.

[notinkansas]

12. I'll give you half of that argument.

A blanket notification sounds like a great idea - in conjunction with naming the body of water already found to be dangerous.

[Ms. Toad]

14. The mere presence the amoeba in that lake doesn't make it particularly dangerous.

It is present in all of the hot springs in California, and in other parts of the world, and incidents appear to be extremely rare - even in the hot springs known to have the amoeba. Naming this specific body of water serves little purpose, since its rarity - even though the amoeba are not rare - seems to suggest it is presence of the amoeba + something else.

[sir pball]

16. Infections are rare because tainted water has to get very deep in the nose

The amoeba invades the brain through the smell receptors; there have been a couple of cases linked to using neti pots with non-sterile water. Kids usually get it because their bone structure that houses the smell neurons is less developed, so the amoeba has an easier time crossing over - plus they're far more likely to be jumping in the water in a way that can ram it up their noses. The most common preventative that I've heard of is to hold your nose while jumping in, or even better wear a nose clip.

And if you do get untreated water deep in your nose, enough to feel it, be hyper-vigilant to early symptoms - a major reason the disease is 99.5% deadly is the early phase is just a headache and stiff neck, by the time it gets serious, your brain is already a bloody, pulpy mess.

[sir pball]

15. Did we just compromise on the Internet? Is such a thing even possible?

No objection to naming the specific lake so long as it's made clear that any other surface water is also assumed tainted; I just would have hated to see people flock to a "safe alternative" that was anything but. Probably best to just get the TX or FL health departments' advice, it's endemic there so they probably know how to effectively educate the public.

And on that note...na zdrowie!

[notinkansas]

17. Yes we did.

[Sympthsical]

4. There are warning signs posted around some lakes in NorCal

I'm a hiking type and bounce around here and there. You sometimes see signs posted at lakes - especially smaller ones - that will warn that it is not entirely safe to swim in there because of bacteria, etc., and you're assuming some risk by doing so.

Of course, in the summer, you'll see tons of people in the things.

[Beetwasher.]

5. Incredibly Tragic, Damn, I Hate Random Shit Like This

Damn damn damn. Poor family, just random, cruel tragedy.

[Vogon_Glory]

7. We have similar amoebas in Texas

They like warm water. I fear that as summer temperatures climb higher because of global warming, such incidents will become more common.

[leftyladyfrommo]

10. One more reason for me to hate water. nt