‘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
Comments are now closed. All comments sections close 14 days after the story has published. For more details, please see our our discussion guidelines
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.
--------------------
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.