Docs fought to save local teen from brain-eating amoeba, mom says

AUGUSTA, Ga. - A local mother said doctors aggressively fought to save her daughter’s life after she contracted a rare infection with a brain-eating amoeba.

But 17-year-old Megan Ebenroth died anyway, her mother said.

The girl died July 22, just days after swimming in a freshwater lake, a common source of naegleria fowleri infections.

“I do want it to be known that Doctors Hospital tried to do a spinal tap to diagnose her and that the Children’s Hospital at MCG fought aggressively for her,” said the girl’s mother, Christina Ebenroth.

Brain-eating amoeba is a microscopic parasite found in warm, fresh bodies of water like hot springs or lakes.

The amoeba can enter through the nose, get into sinus and travel up nerves to the brain. Infection is rare but nearly always fatal.

Some scientists predict brain-eating amoeba cases could increase, since we’ve had record heat and water temperatures are increasing.

Prior to this confirmed case, there have been five other cases reported in Georgia since 1962.

The rock above shows the legacy Megan leaves behind. Handwritten notes saying,” I love you,” “You will forever be missed” and “I hope to impact others the way you have impacted me.”

She was adventurous, a straight-A student, president of Beta Club, vice-president of Spanish Club and played tennis. Next year she hoped to go to the University of Georgia.

More importantly her family says she was deeply loved everywhere she went.

Although infection she had is rare, the disease has a 97 percent fatality rate since symptoms are common at first. The disease is usually only diagnosed when it’s in the late-stage and symptoms progress to more severe illness like hallucinations and seizures. By that point, it’s usually too late to treat the disease effectively.

You can’t get it by accidentally swallowing the water or through a cut. The only way to get infected is by getting it far up your nose by diving or cannonballing into a lake.

There are only about 10 cases per year, but experts say because the amoebas live in warm, fresh bodies of water, they expect to see that number increase with rising temperatures.

Dr. Wassim Ballan, an infectious disease specialist at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, said there are concerns about cases rising, as well as a number of other infectious diseases.

“We are probably going to see a change in trends because of the climate changing and the temperatures rising,” Ballan said. “So there is a lot of concern in the infectious disease community about a lot of different infections, including amoebic infections becoming more common as the climate is warming.”

He also said parents who notice their child feeling unwell after a day of swimming should get them checked out right away. Early symptoms usually start five days after infection. They include sudden fever, headache, and stiff neck. Because the amoebas can only be deadly by entering through the nose, doctors recommend you not jump or dive into the water and instead hold your nose or wear nose clips. Or better yet, keep your head above water.

Digging in shallow water is also not advised since it stirs up the sediment where the amoeba live. It’s important to note there haven’t been any recent cases at Saguaro Lake. Since they started tracking the disease in 1962, there have been only 160 reported cases, so it’s infrequent. Still, Ballan said it isn’t worth the risk when prevention is so easy.

For more information on naegleria fowleri, visit the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.

How to keep yourself safe

Though the risk of infection is low, officials say recreational water s should always assume there is a risk when they enter warm fresh water.

If you choose to swim, you can reduce your risk of infection by limiting the amount of water that goes up the nose.

The CDC recommends the following:

• Avoid jumping or diving into bodies of warm freshwater, especially during the summer.
• Hold your nose shut, use nose clips, or keep your head above water when in bodies of warm fresh water.
• Avoid putting your head underwater in hot springs and other untreated geothermal waters.
• Avoid digging in, or stirring up, the sediment in shallow, warm fresh water. The amoebae are more likely to live in sediment at the bottom of lakes, ponds, and rivers.

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