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8-year-old died of brain-eating amoeba. Who's most at risk?
USA Today • • health
Key Points:
- An 8-year-old girl, Lillian Smart from Ruston, Louisiana, died on August 22 from a brain-eating amoeba infection likely contracted while swimming in Lake Claiborne, according to the Louisiana Department of Health.
- The amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, is commonly found in warm freshwater bodies like lakes and rivers and causes a nearly always fatal infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM).
- Infection occurs when contaminated water enters the nose and the amoeba travels to the brain; it cannot infect people through swallowing water or from person-to-person contact.
- This infection is extremely rare, killing fewer than 10 Americans annually, with only four known survivors out of 167 cases recorded in the U.S. since 1962.
- To reduce risk, experts recommend wearing nose clips or holding the nose when swimming in freshwater, avoiding stirring up sediment in shallow water, and keeping the head above water in hot springs.
