United States: American teenager dies of ‘brain-eating amoeba’

On September 30, we learned from the Associated Press (AP) that an American teenager died of an infection caused by a “brain-eating” amoeba while swimming in Lake Mead between Nevada and Arizona.

A swim that turns tragic. An American teenager died after swimming in the warm waters of Lake Mead near Las Vegas (America), on September 30.

The young man, a minor but the exact age was not given, was infected with a “brain-eating” amoeba identified by scientists as “Naegleria fowleri”.

This microbe, which is invisible to the naked eye, lives in water between 25°C and 46°C. “It’s a very rare disease,” he saidPA, former epidemiologist Brian Labus. “I wouldn’t say there’s cause for alarm,” he assured.

97% mortality

This amoeba causes primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection similar to meningitis. Symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, and vomiting within one to twelve days of exposure.

“This amoeba is 97% lethal, but 99% preventable,” Dennis Kyle, professor of infectious diseases and cell biology and director of the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases at the University of Georgia, told the AP. “You can protect yourself by avoiding jumping in water that comes up to your nose or by using nose plugs,” he suggests.

France has only one case to date

In the United States, 154 cases of this amoeba have been reported since 1962. Almost half were in Texas and Florida. Last August, “Neagleria fowleri” became its first victim in Nebraska.

In France, A case Reported by the National Health Protection Agency. In 2008, a 9-year-old boy died of lightning encephalitis after swimming in Guadeloupe. After analysis, the presence of a brain-eating amoeba was discovered in the hot spring.