Boy infected with rare brain-eating amoeba

The new patient is 12-year-old Zachary Reyna. A spokesperson for the Hendry-Glades Health Department in LaBelle, Florida, said that the department wouldn’t release the age or name of the infected person for privacy reasons.

Getting this amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri, is extremely rare; between 2001 and 2010 there were only 32 reported cases in the United States, according to theCenters for Disease Control and Prevention. Most of the cases are in the Southeast.

These cases are nearly always deadly, but Kali Hardig is giving the Reyna family some hope.

The 12-year-old Arkansas girl was infected with the same rare, brain-eating parasite a couple of weeks ago and has since been moved out of the intensive care unit at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Her condition has been upgraded to “fair,” according to hospital spokesperson Tom Bonner.

Naegleria fowleri is found in hot springs and warm, fresh water, most often in the southeastern United States. The amoeba enters the body through the nose and travels to the brain. You cannot be infected with the organism by drinking contaminated water, the CDC says.

“This infection is one of the most severe infections that we know of,” Dr. Dirk Haselow of the Arkansas Department of Health told WMC about Hardig’s case. “Ninety-nine percent of people who get it die.”

Dr. Sanjiv Pasala, one of Hardig’s attending physicians, says they immediately started treating Hardig with an antifungal medicine, antibiotics and a new experimental anti-amoeba drug doctors got directly from the CDC. They also reduced the girl’s body temperature to 93 degrees. Doctors have used that technique in some brain injury cases as a way to preserve undamaged brain tissue.

Two weeks ago, doctors checked the girl’s cerebral spinal fluid and could not find any presence of the amoeba.

“Based on the occurrence of two cases of this rare infection in association with the same body of water and the unique features of the park, the ADH has asked the owner of Willow Springs to voluntarily close the water park to ensure the health and safety of the public,” the news release said.

The first symptoms of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis appear one to seven days after infection, including headache, fever, nausea, vomiting and a stiff neck, according to the CDC.

“Later symptoms include confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations,” the government agency’s website states. “After the start of symptoms, the disease progresses rapidly and usually causes death within one to 12 days.”

Here are some tips from the CDC to help lower your risk of infection:

• Avoid swimming in fresh water when the water temperature is high and the water level is low.

• Hold your nose shut or use nose clips.

• Avoid stirring up the sediment while wading in shallow, warm freshwater areas.

• If you are irrigating, flushing or rinsing your sinuses (for example, by using a neti pot), use water that has been distilled or sterilized.