I was a Medical Technology student at Forsyth Memorial Hospital in Winston-Salem, NC, when the first NC case of this kind was reported back in 1977. A young girl came to the ER one evening with an overwhelming infection and died the next day. Although she died in NC, she had acquired the infection in her home state of Georgia when she went diving in a local quarry shortly before coming to NC to visit relatives. According to her lab results, she did not appear to have a typical case of meningitis and it was not until one of the techs actually saw the amoeba moving on the slide he was using to do a cell count on the specimen did they realize what was causing her condition. On autopsy, her brain showed huge areas of destruction caused by the organisms. I have never forgotten this case. I have been teaching microbiology for over 35 years and I tell my students about it every year in my parasitology course.
that is horrifying. I wonder if some of the water went up her nose. Or splashed in her eyes.
Thank God for your experience and knowledge...bless you!