Posted on 09/28/2007 10:11:28 PM PDT by Santa Fe_Conservative
PHOENIX - It sounds like science fiction but it's true: A killer amoeba living in lakes enters the body through the nose and attacks the brain where it feeds until you die.
Even though encounters with the microscopic bug are extraordinarily rare, it's killed six boys and young men this year. The spike in cases has health officials concerned, and they are predicting more cases in the future.
"This is definitely something we need to track," said Michael Beach, a specialist in recreational waterborne illnesses for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"This is a heat-loving amoeba. As water temperatures go up, it does better," Beach said. "In future decades, as temperatures rise, we'd expect to see more cases."
According to the CDC, the amoeba called Naegleria fowleri (nuh-GLEER-ee-uh FOWL'-erh-eye) killed 23 people in the United States, from 1995 to 2004. This year health officials noticed a spike with six cases — three in Florida, two in Texas and one in Arizona. The CDC knows of only several hundred cases worldwide since its discovery in Australia in the 1960s.
In Arizona, David Evans said nobody knew his son, Aaron, was infected with the amoeba until after the 14-year-old died on Sept. 17. At first, the teen seemed to be suffering from nothing more than a headache.
"We didn't know," Evans said. "And here I am: I come home and I'm burying him."
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
...no wonder why I’m losing my mind.
BRAINS!
It came from south of the border.
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Parasites in humans are far, far more common than most are led to believe. Few are fatal, though.
Unless you have a really, really strong stomach though, I’d recommend not researching the subject!
There was a show some years ago about this amoeba and the problem it caused at Bath, England. This was in a swimming pool, albeit fed by a natural hot spring.
They ended up tearing down the whole site to get rid of the thing.
Let us please note that Lake Havasu is an artificial lake, and it’s a bit ironic to be lamenting the effects of global warming on its temperature. Where’s the “tear down the dams” movement?
"Though infections tend to be found in southern states, Naegleria lives almost everywhere in lakes, hot springs, even dirty swimming pools, grazing off algae and bacteria in the sediment."
Oh yes, I have have heard that doctors consider parasites and WORMS to be the missing diagnosis in the case of many chronic health problems.
I guess I’ll go back into my cave then and never come out :)
I’ve read some opinions that mild cases of worm infection are actually good for you, because they ramp up the immune system and give it something to do. Live tapeworm eggs used to be sold as a weight control measure.
With extreme infections, though, the toxins overload the body. And some of the nasty critters can actually burrow out of the intestines and find some other places to live that it likes even better, like your liver or kidneys.
OK everyone... Here we go.
1, 2, 3, IT’S BUSHES FAULT!
Ugh. I mean, just ugh. Now I have that to think about.
Well, IIRC, the average human has something like 60-100 trillion cells.
But the number of plain old ordinary bacteria in and around you is at least ten times more. The reason you don’t notice them is bacteria are much, much smaller than human cells.
I agree. Earlier this month of 2007 I ended up with a severe lung infefection then went to my doctors office who then took chest x-rays and blood, they then told me I was eaten up with a severe infection. Hell they sent my blood to the CDC abd 3 days later they could not tell me what was wrong.
I ended up taking antibiotics and then lost my voice for over a month. I really believe the wet backs are bringing in some nasty infections..
Australia?
Rest is all you need.
It’s found all over, including being natural to the United States.
I agree but it cost me a job. I really believe that these wetbacks are bringing in some nasty flu’s
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