A teenager who had bathed in a lake in Nevada (United States) died in early October after contracting a rare infection caused by a “brain-eating” amoeba, local authorities and several US media announced.
According to Washington Post, the young man, a minor whose precise age has not been communicated, bathed in Lake Mead at the end of September. The boy developed the first symptoms almost a week after swimming. In most cases, infected people die five days later.
A very low survival rate
The Nevada Department of Health has confirmed that he contracted an infection from the amoeba. Naegleria fowleriIt thrives in the soft, warm waters of lakes and rivers in summer, as well as in geothermal springs and poorly maintained swimming pools.
This amoeba enters through the nostrils and travels up to the brain, causing severe headaches, hyperthermia, stiff neck and vomiting, before causing dizziness, lethargy, confusion and hallucinations.
This is the second victim of the amoeba in the state of Nevada, according to US health authorities. According to the latter, it is very rare to survive it: of the 154 cases registered between 1962 and 2021 in the United States, only four people have recovered.
Source: BFM TV
