A teenager named Caleb Ziegelbauer was recently hospitalized in Florida due to a rare case of “brain-eating amoeba.”
The following written content by FRANCESCA GARIANO
A teenager in Florida was recently hospitalized due to a rare case of “brain-eating amoeba.”
Caleb Ziegelbauer, 13, was taken to the emergency room after experiencing what was described to NBC2, an NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida, as headaches and hallucinations. These symptoms began to occur about one week after he and his family took a trip to a beach in Port Charlotte, Florida on July 1.
After the teen was taken to an emergency room by his parents, doctors at the hospital were told that Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as the “brain-eating amoeba,” had entered his body through his nose before infecting his brain. In the weeks since, he has been battling for his life at Golisano Children’s Hospital.
According to the CDC, Naegleria fowleri is a single-cell organism found in warm bodies of freshwater. It can cause a rare infection in the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis when entering the body through the nose.
Cases of PAM are extremely rare. Infections become more common when prolonged heat causes a decrease in water levels and rise of water temperatures.
Initial symptoms include headache, fever, nausea, or vomiting, later followed by stuff neck, confusion, lack of attention, balance loss, seizures, or hallucinations.
Caleb’s aunt Katie Chiet said that many people “don’t get to the hospital quickly enough,” and said the family is “hoping” that they sought care in time.
“Unfortunately the Naegleria fowleri presents as if a child has meningitis,” she said, which is why it took time for his family to realize his symptoms could’ve been linked to exposure in the water at the beach. Read more from News Channel 8.
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