Boy dies from amoebic encephalitis after swimming in local lake (Warning)

[donsu]

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-bk-encephalitis080907,0,7270184.story?track=rss


An 11-year-old boy's death from a rare infection after wakeboarding on a local lake has prompted health officials to caution others who swim in freshwater lakes and ponds.

-snip-

The Orange County Health Department issued an advisory Wednesday for people to avoid swimming in fresh waters or to take precautions such as using nose clips, after inquiries from the media and the boy's neighbors, said department spokesman Dain Weister.

Still, the agency is not releasing the names of all the lakes that Will swam in, though epidemiologists have worked the case for several days, determining that he was in several.

-snip-

Instead, officials caution people to avoid swimming in lakes and ponds if possible or use nose clips if they are in the freshwater.

-snip-

In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to a trust fund at the Central Florida Educators Credit Union. The family is in the process of setting up an information campaign about the threat to help warn others.
---------------------------

climate change is not our friend

neither are the authorities in Florida

[DemocratSinceBirth]

1. I Grew Up In Central Florida In The Late Seventies

We used to swim in lakes all the time... I didn't know I was taking my young life in my hands...

[donsu]

8. you weren't in the 70s - now the lake water is hotter

nt

[Mojorabbit]

2. I believe it was lake conway

This isn't anything new. Since I was a kid it has happened periodically. The lakes are like bathwater near the shore this time of year.

[CC]

12. The article says

it was Lake Jessamine though he was in other lakes and they won't give a list of them.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. I'll Swim In The Ocean, Blue Springs, and Wekiva Springs

That's it...

[nashville_brook]

18. going to Wakiva tomorrow! woohoo!

[Ghost in the Machine]

3. My daugter's best friend's brother died last year under similar circumstances

he had a cut that got infected after swimming in a lake, but I'll have to wait for her to get home from school to recall all the details. I think they were in Fla when he got sick, but it may have been here in Tenn...

[Clark2008]

7. Please let me know if it was Tennessee.

I live here and have two children.

Can you IM me when you find out?

[Ghost in the Machine]

13. I'll let you know as soon as she gets home from school around 4 pm

My memory is a little hazy about the details, so I want to make sure. If it wasn't Fla, it was Watts Bar Lake, which is just a few miles down the road from me...

[Ghost in the Machine]

17. It was Florida where he got sick and died..

Daughter isn't sure what part of Fla they were in, just that they were in Fla.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

16. I know this is off topic, but...

How beautiful are those babies!!
Duckie

[Uben]

4. The amoyba is usually found

...in stagnant waters such as creeks or ponds, but can be found in larger bodies of still water. Drought years are especially bad about generating growth of the amoeba. We test our small lake (600 acres) every August for it but have never found it.
We haven't tested this year because we have had an unusually wet year, and the feeder greeks have kept it pretty well flushed.

[alphafemale]

6. Can I have a feeder greek?

That sounds sexy! :D

[nashville_brook]

5. heard this on local public radio yesterday and it creeps me out that they won't say which lake

what a tragedy for this family.

[alphafemale]

9. Yeah. It like every horror movie involving "Something In the Water"

Doesn't it?

[Ron Green]

10. Florida again. I'm keepin' track.

[HereSince1628]

11. The group of soil amoebae that cause this are pretty common in nature.

They simply make a great living in warm water. A bit of contaminated water up the nose and they take a short grazing trip along nerves to the brain.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

15. I have a cousin who died of that here in Oklahoma a few years back....

He was the son of a cousin and I had never met him. Unfortunately they allowed him to swim in a still pond while he was at summer camp. I felt terrible for his grandmother, who is my aunt, and his mother. I hear he was a really smart little boy. Unfortunately he never got a chance to live up to his potential.
My rambling point: It doesn't just happen in Florida. It happens everywhere there are still waters.
Duckie

[Booster]

19. I had viral enchephalitis in 1971 after getting the measles from

who knows where - the air. Was in a coma for 4 days; very unpleasant experience, but I was lucky and came out of it with slight brain damage - all my good friends said I must have had it before. I technically died at one point, but woke up strapped to the bed and cross-eyed, and alone. Now that's a weird feeling.