100 screened for brain-eating amoeba after boy infected
After a young man died earlier this month from Naegleria fowleri, the infection of a 10-year-old boy has spurred panic among Israelis who visited a beach on the Sea of Galilee
About 100 Israelis were admitted for screening in northern Israeli medical centers as of Thursday after a 10-year-old boy was infected by a brain-eating amoeba earlier this month.
These patients had visited Gai Beach on the Sea of Galilee, with 36 released after visiting Tiberias' Baruch Padeh Medical Center. Four children are still in the hospital for further examination and observation.
No new cases have been detected yet, but the infection of the 10-year-old after a 26-year-old Israeli man died from the pathogen earlier this month. Both had entered the waters of the Sea of Galilee.
It was reported from the office that no new cases were detected.
The organism, Naegleria fowleri, can cause encephalitis, or inflammation of the brain, if it enters the human body, although infections are extremely rare. Only about 400 cases have ever been recorded, but the death rate is only 3 percent.
The boy, who was at the Gai Beach water park, has been hospitalized at Ziv Medical Center in Safed after displaying symptoms.
His condition "continues to be severe," the hospital said. "He is sedated and intubated. The medical team in the children's department, continues to provide him with the best care and all of us here are praying for his recovery."
The hospital said that 19 children and five adults had arrived in the emergency room with mild symptons and were screened. All have been released.
Other medical centers in northern Israel have also reported receiving patients fearing they had contracted the Naegleria fowleri organism, but all have been released.
Doctors warn that if symptoms of meningitis appear, such as a headache with vomiting, blurred vision, and a stiff neck, to immediately seek medical care.