Boy Dies From Mind-Consuming Amoeba After Swimming in SC Lake

HealthDay News — A 12-year-old South Carolina boy has died after being contaminated by a uncommon, brain-eating amoeba present in freshwater, his household’s lawyer stated.

Middle faculty pupil Jaysen Carr died July 18 after swimming in Lake Murray, a big reservoir close to Columbia, S.C., in keeping with a Facebook post from the regulation workplace of Tyler D. Bailey.

Doctors from Prisma Health Children’s Hospital in South Carolina confirmed that Jaysen was contaminated by Naegleria fowleri, a microscopic organism that lives in heat freshwater and might trigger a lethal mind an infection.

Dr. Anna-Kathryn Burch of Prisma Health Children’s Hospital defined at a press briefing that the amoeba is “ubiquitous to any fresh water in the state of South Carolina” and customary all through the Southeastern U.S., in keeping with The New York Times.

As temperatures rise and water ranges drop throughout summer season, the danger of publicity will increase.

The an infection is almost at all times deadly, though this can be very uncommon, in keeping with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In all, 167 instances have been reported within the U.S. from 1962 to 2024. Just 4 folks survived.

Most individuals who come into contact with Naegleria fowleri by no means get sick. The amoeba can solely infect an individual when contaminated water goes up the nostril, usually throughout swimming or diving. It then travels to the mind, the place it destroys mind tissue.

Once within the mind, the amoeba causes a illness known as primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), the CDC says, which progresses rapidly. Early signs can embody:

• Headache
• Fever
• Vomiting
• Nausea

Although uncommon, Naegleria fowleri has brought on different deaths in recent times.

In 2022, a baby died after swimming in a Nebraska river. In 2020, a 6-year-old boy died after taking part in in a splash pad or utilizing a water hose on Texas’ Gulf Coast, The Times stated.

Before that, a North Carolina man died after visiting an area water park.

And in 2018, a New Jersey man died after visiting a distinct Texas water park.

Splash pads and water parks are normally protected if water is chlorinated correctly, in keeping with the CDC.

The amoeba has additionally been linked to nasal rinsing with unsafe water. Earlier this 12 months, a 71-year-old lady died after using tap water from an RV for nasal irrigation.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises utilizing solely boiled, distilled or sterile water in neti pots and different nasal rinse units.

More data

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has extra on Naegleria fowleri infections.

SOURCE: The New York Times, July 26, 2025