Experts are warning that a deadly brain-eating amoeba is spreading in rivers and lakes across the United States this summer. Nagleria fowleriIt is a brain-eating amoeba that lives in freshwater in the United States and most of the world.
According to the British newspaper, “Daily Mail”, this Amoeba Caused by a bacterial infection that enters the nose and travels to the brain, the infection is always fatal, killing 97% of patients, and there are no specific medical treatments. An expert in parasitic diseases said the amoeba was “rapid and progressive”. and “eats brain tissue.”
Ingesting contaminated water through the nose gives the amoeba a direct route to the brain, but swallowing the water is safe because stomach acid kills the bacteria. Two cases of infection have been reported this year, including a 13-year-old child. He was transferred to a Florida hospital after doctors first diagnosed him with meningitis.
Freshwater lakes and rivers across the U.S. this summer may have a deadly parasite lurking around them and quickly devouring your brain — and experts warn that if it gets in your nose, it has a 97 percent chance of death, often within 5 days of feeling symptoms.
A bacterium called Naegleria fowleri lives Nagleria fowleri It thrives in freshwater around the world at temperatures around 115 degrees Fahrenheit, which typically occur during the summer months. That means lakes and rivers around the U.S. are at risk of carrying dangerous species, even water parks, where a 3-year-old boy from Texas died last year after being exposed at a municipal splash park..
An expert in parasitic diseases says that contaminated water ingested through the nose gives the amoeba a direct route to the brain, where it is always dangerous, but there is no harm in swallowing contaminated water because stomach acid is strong enough to kill bacteria..
Notify the US Centers for Disease Control and PreventionCDC There have been no fewer than 154 outbreaks in the last 60 years, with nearly all cases in southern states reaching summer temperatures.
The newspaper said that all but 4 of these cases resulted in death, with a survival rate of only 3%. These cases are particularly clustered in Texas and Florida, with 40 and 36 injuries recorded since 1962, respectively. The CDC has begun tracking cases. Two cases have already been reported this year, a Missouri man who died after being infected in an Iowa lake and a Florida teen who fought for his life after swimming in a local river..
After a person is exposed to the amoeba, he is likely to experience symptoms such as headache, nausea, and fatigue within 1 to 9 days. Once symptoms begin, death almost always occurs within 5 days.
Because of its rarity, doctors often misdiagnose the symptoms as meningitis, wasting valuable time that could be used to treat the bacteria, said Dr. Anjan Debnath, a parasitologist at the University of California, San Diego..
Cases are not limited to lakes and rivers, improper treatment of water in ponds and even tap water can lead to dangerous exposure to the amoeba – causing several deaths among children in recent years..
The paper points out that bacteria enter the nose via the olfactory nerve, providing a shorter and more direct route to the brain. The stomach is strong enough to kill the amoeba..
If a person’s olfactory nerve is exposed, it can take anywhere from one to 9 days for symptoms to appear, and they die within 5 days after symptoms first appear, which is very fast, and it eats away at brain tissue, Debnath explained..
The newspaper said the infection occurs in two stages, the first being relatively simple, in which the person suffers from headaches and other symptoms such as fever, unless the doctor knows that someone has swam untreated. water, he did not even suspect the amoeba, and once the symptoms reached the second stage, the person began to have severe neurological problems such as seizures, the doctor would detect the infection by testing the cerebrospinal fluid. The person may have already experienced severe symptoms that could lead to death.
A similar situation happened to Caleb Zigelbauer, 13, of Port Charlotte, Florida, where on July 1, the teenager was swimming in a river near his home on a family trip to escape the Florida heat when he became ill and contracted meningitis. After the first time, Caleb developed a fever and complained of hallucinations.After 5 days of delaying the recovery time from the infection, his parents rushed him to the hospital in Fort Myers, where doctors diagnosed him with meningitis. In the pediatric intensive care unit..
“Unfortunately, the amoeba Naegleria fowleri appears to be the cause of his illness,” the boy’s aunt, Katie Seid, said on her crowdfunding page.“More than a week after he was admitted to the hospital, doctors finally realized he had 97% of the deadly bacteria.
Earlier in the month, an unnamed man from Missouri became infected while swimming at Lake Three Fires State Park in Iowa, and in response, health officials closed the beach..
Although these cases are rare, with an average of less than 3 catches per year, it is advised not to swim in untreated water in the summer, especially in places like Florida and Texas where temperatures are exceptionally high, because the amoeba is only found in amoeba. In fresh water, swimming in the sea is generally safe – if families want to go to a freshwater beach, anyone entering the water should wear a nose clip to prevent water from entering the nose..
Experts also recommend not kicking up dirt or sand on the bottom of the lake because these are the warmest areas in the depths where microscopic organisms usually lurk..
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