Courtney Nash Was Killed By An Amoeba

[TheMorningStar]

Doctors believe Courtney Nash, from Mims, Fla., was struck down by amoebic meningoencephalitis, a deadly infection caused by an amoeba that lurks in warm river and pond waters.
Nash was rushed to the hospital late last week when she got a fever and became delirious shortly after taking a dip in the St. John's River last week.
She was pronounced dead at around 4:30 p.m., Brevard County Fire Rescue said.
Health officials have not determined a cause of death, but they suspect that Nash may have caught the parasite that causes the infection, amoebic encephalitis, during her swim.
"We got a result from the hospital in Orlando and they did a spinal tap on her, and they looked on the cerebral spinal fluid and they saw the amoeba," Barry Inman, an epidemiologist with the Brevard County Health Department, told CBS Tampa.
The dangerous and rare parasite is commonly found in stagnant freshwater during hot weather, as well as poorly tended pools or hot tubs.
The parasite enters the victim through the nose and then attacks the brain and spinal chord, doctors said.
There are typically fewer than five cases a year in the entire country, and only one person has survived the infection since the 1970s, Inman told the station.

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2011...er.html?r=news

Courtney Nash was 14 years old when she pushed her mother to let her become an organ donor. Seven recipients are alive because of it.

Nash's struggle saddened the community, but her gift is inspiring it. A group will walk over the Max Brewer Bridge on Monday in her memory.

PJ Nash-Ryder, Courtney's mom, could barely express what the last week has been like.

"It's hurtful. It's hurtful," Nash-Ryder said.

Her 16-year-old daughter was diagnosed on Wednesday with a rare amoeba infection after swimming in the St. Johns River. Nash died over the weekend.

When her mom stepped outside their home, she set aside her grief and smiled as she told the media that her daughter was still helping others.

"Courtney, you're my angel. You're one of a kind. I love you,” said PJ Nash-Ryder.

Two years ago, Nash asked her mom for permission to become an organ donor.

"I got a little scared. You know, it's like I really didn't want to. I'll be honest. She asked me to sign to give me permission. I did," said Nash-Ryder.

The 16-year-old got her driver's license, and one day before she got sick, Nash renewed her pledge to donate her organs.

http://www.wftv.com/news/28868929/de...=cmg_cntnt_rss

[Kitty]

The dangerous and rare parasite is commonly found in stagnant freshwater during hot weather

Poor kid..

This reaffirms my refusal to swim in still water.

[princessgrandma]

amoebic meningoencephalitis

Now, that's a mouthful.

How awful and how frightening this must've been for her and her family. Just taking a dip in a river is dangerous now. I know one thing. I wouldn't wade in the river near me, much less swim in it. It's NASTY.

Poor kid. She had her whole life ahead of her. What a way to go.

[tmdgirl]

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/...161107259.html

A parasite known as the "brain-eating amoeba" has claimed its second young American victim this month.

Christian Strickland, a 9-year-old from Henrico County in Virginia contracted an infection after visiting a fishing camp in his state. He died of meningitis on August 5.

This week, health department officials confirmed that the deadly amoeba--officially known as "Naegleria fowleri"--was to blame.

RIP Courtney and Christian

[TheMorningStar]

The third case, in Louisiana, was more unusual. It was a young man whose death in June was traced to the tap water he used in a device called a neti pot. It's a small teapot-shaped container used to rinse out the nose and sinuses with salt water to relieve allergies, colds and sinus trouble.
Health officials later found the amoeba in the home's water system. The problem was confined to the house; it wasn't found in city water samples, said Dr. Raoult Ratard, Louisiana's state epidemiologist.
The young man, who was only identified as in his 20s and from southeast Louisiana, had not been swimming nor been in contact with surface water, Ratard added.
He said only sterile, distilled, or boiled water should be used in neti pots.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/0...oeba-in-water/

[malq]

I have no doubt she passed through my town and stopped at Gloria's Mexican/Chinese Food Restaurant.
I survived dinner there once, others have not been so lucky.