Have you heard about Naegleria fowleri?

Philippines
September 28, 2007 10:22pm CST
Its actually an amoeba that eats the nerve cells of the brain. It lives mostly in warm freshwater lakes and ponds, but can even thrive in heated swimming pools. What it does is that it attaches itself to the insides of the host's nose and then travels up to the brain. It has infected about 175 people worldwide, and amongst this number, only 6 survived the infection which gives it a 97% mortality rate. People who are infected tend to complain of a stiff neck, headache and fever. In the later stages, they'll show signs of brain damage such as hallucinations and behavioral changes. I got interested in this topic because of an article I read online about 6 kids who died because of a brain-eating amoeba. At first, they thought it was just a normal headache. But when one of the kids was admitted in a local hospital, the doctors suspected meningitis. He was rushed to a Las Vegas hospital, but the doctors were only able to identify the cause of the infection when he stopped breathing and was declared brain dead. Its very alarming since the kid got infected by swimming in a freshwater lake near their house. Have you heard about this story?
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