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Brain-Eating Amoeba
7/15/2016 7:14:45 AM
Teen Dies Days After Apparently Contracting Brain-Eating Amoeba

A Texas teenager has died after he apparently contracted a brain-eating amoeba, officials said.

Hudson Adams, 19, was rushed to the hospital after falling ill with flu-like symptoms over the weekend, the director of a summer camp Adams worked at told KPRC2.

He was then reportedly flown to Memorial Hermann, where he was placed on life support before he died Wednesday.

A spokeswoman with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told InsideEdition.com the CDC was notified of the case on July 12.

“Hudson Adams is in the complete and total loving arms of Jesus,” his father wrote on Facebook as he announced his son’s passing.

An outpouring of support from friends and family was left on the grieving dad’s social media page, as loved ones expressed their shock and sadness over losing Adams so suddenly.

“Our hearts are broken. We love y'all so much. We're here with you,” one friend wrote.

Another posted: “Have no words and cannot imagine the pain you're going through.”

Friends devastated by Adams’ death called the recent high school graduate kind and humble.

“Had the privilege of being around Hudson this summer! Such an awesome guy,” another wrote.

Adams worked at Frontier Camp, a Christian summer camp about two hours north of Houston, as a kitchen maintenance assistant and junior counselor, the camp wrote on Facebook.

“This summer I am most looking forward to being with awesome staffers and teaching kids about God's word," Adams said when he began work, the camp wrote in a July 1 Facebook post.

“A former camper and current summer staffer, Hudson was a loyal friend and hard worker, who always served joyfully and with humility in his service to others and the Lord,” the camp said in a statement.

“He was fun, loved his cape socks, and everyone always enjoyed being around him. While we will miss our friend, brother in Christ, and fellow laborer in the good work of sharing the Gospel, we look forward to the day we will see him again in the presence of our Lord and Savior.”

Services for Adams will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at Ecclesia Houston at 1100 Elder, his father wrote on Facebook. He noted that the family is also planning to have a water well in honor of his son.

“This will provide clean water for a community with limited access. This alone can save many lives and we want nothing more than for Hudson’s life to contribute to bringing God’s love into this world,” his father wrote. “The well will have his name on it and the family will be able to visit it one day.”

Those interested in donating to the fund can do so by clicking here.

The deadly amoeba believed to have caused Adams’ death, known as Naegleria fowleri, is commonly found in warm freshwater and soil.

It can cause a rare infection in the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), according to the CDC.

The fatality rate for PAM is devastatingly high at more than 97%, as only three people out of 138 known cases of infection in the United States from 1963 to 2015 have survived, the CDC said.

A teenager in Ohio died in June after she contracted the deadly amoeba while on vacation with her church youth choir.

Lauren Seitz, 18, is believed to have picked up the brain-eating amoeba while traveling with the group from Church of The Messiah, United Methodist, to sing at churches and nursing homes when they went on a rafting trip in North Carolina.

Michael John Riley Jr., a 14-year-old, three-time junior Olympian, died after contracting the deadly amoeba while swimming at a park near Huntsville, Texas, on August 13.

The CDC confirmed the most recent infection, saying in a statement to InsideEdition.com that officials confirmed on Thursday the Naegleria fowleri infection through testing a sample of cerebrospinal fluid.

When reached by InsideEdition.com, a spokeswoman for the family declined to comment on Adams’ death or the circumstances surrounding it.

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RE: Brain-Eating Amoeba
7/15/2016 7:21:09 AM
Brain-Eating Amoeba Linked to Warm Water Kills California Woman

A 21-year-old woman died [July 2015] after contracting a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba that thrives in warm bodies of water.

The woman, whose identity has not been released, came into contact with the amoeba on private property.

The organisms, known as Naegleria fowleri, are commonly found in warm freshwater such as lakes, ponds and hot springs. Humans are infected when water containing the amoeba travels through the nose and migrate to the brain, destroying the tissue.

Cases of Naegleria fowleri are rare, but deadly. After initial symptoms such as headaches, vomiting and fever, the disease progresses rapidly and in most cases causes death within three to 18 days, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In the last 52 years, 133 cases have been reported in the U.S. Only three people survived.

The woman was admitted to Northern Inyo Hospital in Bishop, California, on June 16. She was initially diagnosed with meningitis but her condition continued to deteriorate, the hospital said in a report released Wednesday.

She was then flown to Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada, where the CDC confirmed it was a case of Naegleria fowleri.

As the infection was believed to have been contracted on private property, the hospital said there is no threat to the general public.

A girl in Arkansas was exposed to the brain-eating amoeba at Willow Springs Water Park in 2013. (Facebook Photo/Willow Springs Water Park )

Still, high temperatures in the summer months elevate the risk of coming into contact with the brain-eating amoeba. Most infections occur during July, August and September when there is prolonged heat and thus higher water temperatures and lower water levels.

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RE: Brain-Eating Amoeba
7/15/2016 7:41:33 AM
‘Brain-eating amoeba’ blamed in teen’s death following church trip

It's referred to as the "brain-eating amoeba." Naegleria fowleri resides in warm freshwater, hot springs and poorly maintained swimming pools. When the single-celled organism enters a person's body through the nose, it can cause a deadly infection that leads to destruction of brain tissue.

These infections are extremely rare; 138 people have been infected since 1962, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But over the weekend, the amoeba claimed another victim when an 18-year-old died from a meningitis infection caused by N. fowleri, said health officials in North Carolina.

Lauren Seitz of Westerville, Ohio, died from a suspected case of primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), and officials are investigating whether she contracted the infection while whitewater rafting in Charlotte during a church trip, the Charlotte Observer reported.

The N. fowleri infection "resulted in her developing a case of meningitis ... and inflaming of the brain and surrounding tissues, and unfortunately she died of this condition," Mecklenburg County Health Department director Marcus Plescia told reporters Wednesday.


Plescia said that, while they were still gathering information from health officials in Ohio, they do know one of the stops Seitz's group made was to the U.S. National Whitewater Center.

"We are continuing to work with health officials to examine the facts involved in Lauren’s case, although we have been told repeatedly that little additional information will be determinable specific to this occasion," the center's chief executive, Jeffrey Wise, said in a statement.

Seitz belonged to the youth music ministry group at Church of the Messiah United Methodist Church in Westerville. Senior pastor Jim Wilson told NBC4 that she was one of 32 young people who traveled in Ohio and to West Virginia and North Carolina to sing at churches and nursing homes.

Wilson said the group had one day of recreation: whitewater rafting in North Carolina.

“We will deeply miss her, but we were so blessed by her presence and her gifts that she just shared in a beautiful way,” Wilson told the station. “She was a special person.”


Seitz likely became infected while out of Ohio, Mitzi Kline, spokewoman for the Franklin County Department of Public Health in Ohio, told the Columbus Dispatch.

[The ‘frightening’ rise of flesh-eating bacteria: Mystery, pain and amputations.]

The U.S. National Whitewater Center is a locally owned nonprofit that sources water from the Charlotte Mecklenburg Utilities Department and two wells. The water, contained in a concrete, closed-loop system, is disinfected with ultraviolet radiation and filtered with a disc system, according to the center. Chlorine is also used periodically.

The center remains open. But it said it has released additional chlorine "into the system in an abundance of caution."

Plescia said the water at the center “is as safe as any body of water,” the Observer reported. “Any time you go into a lake or pond, there are things in the water that can cause illnesses.”

While cases of N. fowleri infection are extremely rare, they make news as they seem to often impact healthy young people. And given the amoeba's prevalence in water, it's not clear why some people become infected and others don't.

Last summer, a 14-year-old boy died days after swimming in a Minnesota lake. Doctors initially thought he died of an amoeba-related infection, but they later determined his meningitis was brought on my a skateboard accident.

The previous summer, a 9-year-old Kansas girl died from a suspected N. fowleri infection.

[Did ‘brain-eating amoeba’ kill a 14-year-old swimmer?]

People cannot be infected by drinking contaminated water. Rare infections can happen when such water enters the nose.

"The risk of Naegleria fowleri infection is very low. There have been 37 reported infections in the U.S. in the 10 years from 2006 to 2015, despite millions of recreational water exposures each year," according to the CDC. "By comparison, in the 10 years from 2001 to 2010, there were more than 34,000 drowning deaths in the U.S."

Most of the cases in the United States involve contaminated recreational water, according to the CDC. Between 2006 and 2015, three people were infected by contaminated tap water used for nasal irrigation.




Infections typically happen during summer months, and in Southern states.

Seitz had just graduated from Westerville South High School, where she was a drum major in the school's marching band, the Dispatch reported.

The band held a memorial and candlelight vigil this week.

"They do not prepare you for this type of thing in school," band director John Laswell wrote on Facebook. "This was an enormous loss for the band but also to the Westerville community and family. Lauren just graduated in May, and was one of the most talented, humble, and caring students I've ever taught."

[This post has been updated to clarify the cause of death of a 14-year-old in Minnesota.]

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/06/23/brain-eating-amoeba-blamed-in-teens-death-following-church-trip/



Discussion ~ 20 Comments


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Comments



David Nicholson

6/26/2016 11:30 AM EDT

See. You people should all stay out of those dangerous "White water rafting " creeks and come to Florida where the waters are safe.



Michael C Stevens

6/25/2016 12:43 PM EDT


Global warming will likely cause a significant increase in such infections. Whether it contributed to this unfortunately young ladys' cannot be determined conclusively.
However, as the average ambient temperatures of bodies of water whose temperature is determined to a significant degree by the ambient temperature of the air, I predict the number of bodies of water that people swim, and otherwise partially or fully immerse themselves in, will continually increase, and so will the number of such tragic deaths.



Commonsense2all

6/24/2016 2:04 PM EDT


It was in a recycled water environment more like a pool with pumped ware to make waves. Not true white water rafting.



jaygatsby27

6/23/2016 6:50 PM EDT

Trump.


CountryRhodes

6/23/2016 6:57 PM EDT

Too easy. Let's not be like Republicans and exploit tragedy for political gain.


jax75420

6/23/2016 8:25 PM EDT

Republicans will see "Whitewater" in this story and immediately blame Hillary.



Fredrico Alverez

6/23/2016 5:00 PM EDT

Rest in Peace Angel...


bookersbay

6/23/2016 4:44 PM EDT


Another reason to let your kids swim and play in dirty places when they're young.. This nasty "Marketing" strategy of Killing all the germs in your house, and, not eating dropped food, has it's dire consequences..
Take that, "Johnson & Johnson" et alia....



DaveinDallas

6/23/2016 5:19 PM EDT


This particular organism is so rare that nobody builds up any resistance to it. It's only dangerous if it enters the nose. Wear nose plugs, if there is any doubt about the water.



Beau7890

6/23/2016 5:22 PM EDT

Amoebae are not germs. Your body's immune system does not build up antibodies to amoeba.



Amy R.

6/24/2016 11:46 AM EDT


bookersbay, you are referring to the "hygiene hypothesis" which does not directly apply here. The hygiene hypothesis states that excessive cleanliness can lead to an over-active immune system that does not distinguish between friend and foe. This manifests as allergies and autoimmune disease. In the tragic incident discussed in this article, no allergy or autoimmunity is involved.

Beau7890, amoebae are one-celled microorganisms. Unlike bacteria (which are one-celled prokaryotes), amoeba are eukaryotes, so whether or not they are "germs" depends on what your definition of this non-technical term is. Either way, exposure to the proteins of an amoeba will cause an immune response and the production of antibodies in the same way that exposure to bacteria will.

Putting these two slightly inaccurate ideas together, you two are arguing whether playing in water that contains amoebae would have prevented this deadly infection. The answer is, we don't know enough about this particular infection to say whether natural exposure to a non-fatal dose early in life would provide lifelong immune protection. The disease is so exceedingly rare, this would be an impossible question to answer.

Let your kids swim in lakes and rivers because it's a healthy, fun thing to do!



JoeODonnell

6/24/2016 11:55 AM EDT

Good, clear explanation. Thanks.


thatswhatshesaid

6/23/2016 3:39 PM EDT


This would explain what is slowly happening to the republican party


David90

6/23/2016 4:05 PM EDT

Way to exploit a completely unrelated tragedy to score a cheap political point.
You should be so proud of yourself! Let's hope mommy and daddy have some plans for you, now that first grade is finished for the year.


Crickey
6/23/2016 5:30 PM EDT

I pretty much expected to see such a comment.



thatswhatshesaid
3:39 PM EDT
This would explain what is slowly happening to the republican party.

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A single-celled Hillary went up their nose?




Neptune31

6/24/2016 10:36 AM EDT


Yet another tasteless comment on the heels of a young girl's death. You and your kind epitomize everything rotten about human beings.


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RE: Brain-Eating Amoeba
7/15/2016 7:49:52 AM
Richmond County health officials: Brain-eating amoeba rare, but deadly

ROCKINGHAM — After an Ohio teen died from exposure to “brain-eating amoeba” at the U.S. National Whitewater Center in Charlotte, people who frequent popular summer water spots like the Pee Dee River and Hitchcock Creek Blue Trail may wonder whether the waters are safe.

Richmond County Health Director Dr. Tommy Jarrell said that contracting disease from the amoeba is not a common occurrence.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Florida and Texas each reported 34 cases between 1962 and 2015 — North Carolina reported only 4 infections during the same 53-year period.

The CDC describes Naegleria fowleri as “a warm water-loving amoeba found around the world, often in warm or hot freshwater (lakes, rivers, and hot springs).” They say Naegleria fowleri amoeba can travel up the nose and into the brain, where it causes the disease primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which destroys brain tissue and causes brain swelling and death.

Symptoms of the disease, they say, are similar to other diseases causing inflammation and swelling of the brain and usually begin about five days after infection. These include headache, fever and nausea or vomiting in the early stages, but later symptoms can include stiff neck, confusion, lack of attention to people and surroundings, loss of balance, seizures and hallucinations.

Death most often occurs within five days of the appearance of symptoms.

CDC spokesperson Brittany Behm said an unusually high concentration of the amoeba was found in samples taken from the whitewater center in Charlotte.

“We did collect 11 samples that were water-related from the whitewater center,” she said. “All 11 samples tested positive for Naegleria fowleri. Some were taken from the water and others from the surrounding environment, such as rocks and soil.”

While it is too soon to speculate on why the amoeba were so plentiful at the Charlotte water park, Behm did say its design combining features of a natural environment with man-made elements can yield unpredictable results.

“This is kind of a unique environment,” she said. It’s man-made and you have a concentration of a lot of water in a very small space. The center was treating the water with chlorine, but was not equipped with an automated chlorination system, so dirt and debris in the water and exposure to sunlight can use up that chlorine. And the water, not being clear, prevents UV rays from reaching the pathogens and killing them. We do not know enough about man-made environments like the whitewater center, the way they emulate natural environments, and their effect on pathogens like this amoeba.”

Properly maintained public swimming pools, she said, do not pose a threat. And according to a CDC fact sheet on Naegleria fowleri, the amoeba are not found in natural saltwater. But hot springs, lakes and rivers and ponds are natural hosts for the microscopic organisms.

“It’s important to remember that you cannot get infected from Naegleria fowleri in clean, treated water venues,” Behm said. “It is normally found in warm water rivers and ponds. During the summer months when it is hot outside, waters are warmer and people can be aware of this added risk and decide not to go into the water at all, or they can avoid stirring up the sediment at the bottom of ponds and rivers, and avoid getting water up the nose, because that is the only way to be infected. Be aware of this very rare risk, and avoid water up the nose.”

“Naegleria fowleri infections are very rare but they are devastating if contracted,” he said. “From 2005 to 2014, there were 35 infections reported in the United States. All but two were fatal.”

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