Baby dies in US after being infected by brain-eating amoeba

In Nebraska, a child died of meningoencephalitis caused by infection with the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri.

⠀

The child picked up the parasite while swimming in the river. It is noted that infection with this amoeba in 97% causes death.

⠀

A Nebraska epidemiologist noted that similar cases had previously been found in the southern states, but now began to appear in the northern ones.

⠀

“The amoeba can cause primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection that can occur when water containing the amoeba enters the nose and reaches the brain. Infection is extremely rare, but almost always fatal, ”experts say

⠀

According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 31 cases of this infection have been reported over the past 10 years. Statistics also show that from 1962 to 2021, 154 people were infected, of which only four survived.