A one-year-old girl has died after she became infected by a super rare, brain-eating organism.
The baby girl, from Caucaia, near Fortaleza, in the Brazilian state of Ceara, died on 19th September, with the cause of death only being confirmed now.
The tot, not named, was reportedly infected with Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba, a kind of single-cell organism that thrives in warm freshwater lakes, rivers, and hot springs.
Also known as the brain-eating amoeba, it can cause meningoencephalitis, an inflammation of the brain that is usually attributable to a virus, bacterium, parasite, or other micro-organism.
Brazil’s Ministry of Health confirmed the cause of death on 9th December.
It said that there was only one other confirmed case on record in the country, in Sao Paulo, in 1975.
The Brazilian authorities also issued a national alert, because the girl had become infected from water she had access to in her home and which came from a reservoir, meaning that others could also be at risk of infection.
It likely occurred while her parents were giving her a bath and some of the contaminated water got in her nose.
The Ministry said in a statement: “The water used for bathing came from a reservoir that supplies the settlement and was not treated, being taken directly from the tap.
“It was often necessary to wait for it to cool down due to the high temperature.”
The young girl died eight days after the onset of the symptoms, which can include fever, drowsiness, irritability and vomiting.
The executive secretary of Health Surveillance, Antonio Silva Lima Neto, said: “We received the reports, both from the water and from the brain tissue, which were sent to the Adolfo Lutz Institute and which were positive for the amoeba ‘Naegleria fowleri’.
“So, there is clinical, epidemiological and laboratory compatibility. Because, in addition to the slide, which the histological results were compatible, there is now a positive PCR reaction in the brain tissue.”
He added: “This case would have gone unnoticed if the family, very rightly, had not authorised the autopsy during such a painful time.
“Their decision allowed us to confirm the cause of death.”
Neto said that the Naegleria fowleri amoeba “causes these neurological symptoms, sometimes very quickly. And as it is extremely rare, health professionals usually have difficulty suspecting that it is a case caused by such a rare germ.”
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Story By: Joseph Golder, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
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