“Brain-eating amoeba” kills South Carolina child

SOUTH CAROLINA – Prisma Health Children’s Hospital says a Midlands child has died after exposure to a freshwater amoeba known as naegleria fowleri. It’s commonly known as a “brain-eating amoeba,” which can thrive in lakes, rivers, and ponds during periods of warm weather. Experts say activities like diving can forcefully introduce the organism into nasal passages. While infection is extremely rare, doctors say nearly all cases are deadly.

Initial symptoms may show up within one to 12 days, including severe headache, fever, nausea and vomiting, and a stiff neck. If you were exposed to freshwater and experience any of those symptoms, be sure and tell your doctor immediately.

A teenager visiting the Charlotte area from Ohio died from the same type of brain-eating amoeba after a trip to the US National Whitewater center in northwest Charlotte in 2016. After the incident, water activities were suspended for two months. The center now has automated equipment putting chlorine into the water and uses an ozone filtration system.