Latest news with #Jaysen Carr
Globe and Mail
5 hours ago
- Health
- Globe and Mail
South Carolina parents call for safety warnings after son killed by brain-eating amoeba in lake
Two weeks after Jaysen Carr spent the Fourth of July swimming and riding on a boat on one of South Carolina's most popular lakes, he was dead from an amoeba that lives in the warm water and entered his brain through his nose. His parents had no clue the brain-eating amoeba, whose scientific name is Naegleria fowleri, even existed in Lake Murray, just 15 miles (24 kilometres) west of Columbia. They found out when a doctor, in tears, told them the diagnosis after what seemed like a fairly regular headache and nausea took a serious turn. Jaysen, 12, fought for a week before dying on July 18, making him one of about 160 people known to have died from the amoeba in the U.S. in the past 60 years. As they grieve their son, the boy's parents said they were stunned to learn South Carolina, like most other U.S. states, has no law requiring public reporting of deaths or infections from the amoeba. The lake wasn't closed and no water testing was performed. If they hadn't spoken up, they wonder if anyone would have even known what happened. 'I can't believe we don't have our son. The result of him being a child was losing his life. That does not sit well. And I am terrified it will happen to someone else,' Clarence Carr told The Associated Press as his wife sat beside him, hugging a stuffed tiger that had a recording of their middle child's heartbeat. What is the brain-eating amoeba that killed an American boy swimming in a lake? Jaysen loved sports. He played football and baseball. He loved people, too. As soon as he met you, he was your friend, his father said. He was smart enough to have skipped a grade in school and to play several instruments in his middle school band in Columbia. 'He either loved you or he just didn't know you,' his father said. 'He was the type of person who could go to a jump park and five minutes later say, 'This is my friend James.'' Friends invited Jaysen and his family for the Fourth of July holiday weekend on the lake, where Jaysen spent hours swimming, fishing and riding on an inner tube that was being pulled by a boat. 'Mom and Dad, that was the best Fourth of July I've ever had,' Clarence Carr remembered his son telling him. A few days later, Jaysen's head started to hurt. Pain relievers helped. But the next day the headache got worse and he started throwing up. He told the emergency room doctors exactly where he was hurting. But soon he started to get disoriented and lethargic. The amoeba was in his brain, already causing an infection and destroying brain tissue. It entered through his nose as water was forced deep into his nasal passages, possibly from one of the times Jaysen jumped into the water. It then travelled along his olfactory nerve into his brain. The amoeba caused an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Fewer than 10 people a year get it in the U.S., and over 95% of them die. The last death from the amoeba in South Carolina was in 2016, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amoeba is fairly common. There is no science-based threshold for what level of the organism in the water would be safe or unsafe, and it would be difficult to test water regularly, the South Carolina Department of Environmental Services said in a statement. Researchers are still trying to figure out why the infections are so rare. Some people have been found to have had antibodies, signalling they may have survived exposure. Others may die from brain swelling and other problems without the amoeba ever being detected. Last year, the CDC started a pilot program of giving infected patients an antibiotic approved for use in Europe that has killed the amoeba in lab studies The amoeba becomes dangerous in water that stays over 77 degrees Fahrenheit (25 degrees Celsius) and for years has been seen almost exclusively in the summer in the southern part of the country. But a few recent cases have popped up in Maryland, Indiana and Minnesota, scientists said. The CDC said 167 cases of the infection have been reported in the U.S. between 1962 and 2024, and only four people have survived. One infection in a body of water doesn't increase the chances of another infection in the same body of water, the CDC said. The amoeba cannot move from one person to another. Boys seem most susceptible, but researchers don't know if that is simply because they are more likely to jump and dive into the water or play in sediment at the bottom of lakes. The amoeba can show up in hot springs, rivers and, on rare occasions, in tap water. That's why doctors recommend using sterile water for cleaning nasal passages with a neti pot. The only way to be completely safe is to not swim in lakes or rivers and, if you do, keep your head above water. Pinching your nose or using nose clips when diving or swimming can keep water out of your nose. As he sat in an intensive care hospital room with his son, Clarence Carr couldn't help but think of all the people on the lake. He wondered if any of them had any clue about the microscopic danger in that water. 'There are entire families out there on pontoon boats, jumping off, just like our kids were having the time of their lives,' he said. 'It very well could be their last moments, and they are unaware of it.'
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
Family of boy who died from brain-eating amoeba speaks out: 'Unimaginable'
The family of a 12-year-old boy from South Carolina is grieving after he died from a brain-eating amoeba, according to a statement from their lawyer. Jaysen Carr died on July 18 after developing an infection from the brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri, the statement shared by Bailey Law Firm said. The South Carolina Department of Public Health confirmed in a statement to USA TODAY on July 23 that a person died after being exposed to the amoeba earlier in July. Prisma Health Children's Hospital Midlands confirmed on July 22 that the person was treated at the facility but did not publicly identify the person. "The Carr family is incredibly grateful for the outpouring of love from the community and for the dedicated care provided by the doctors and nurses at Prisma Health Children's Hospital in the Midlands," the statement said. Brain-eating amoeba victim was 'bright and beloved' middle schooler The statement from the Carr family's lawyer said Jaysen was a "bright and beloved" middle school student. "His loss is unimaginable, and our hearts are with his family as they grieve their son and search for answers," the statement said. The legal team said it will "stand beside this family not only to seek the truth, but to help ensure no other family endures a loss like this." "We ask that you keep the Carrs in your thoughts and prayers and respect their privacy as they prepare to lay Jaysen to rest," Bailey Law Firm's statement said. Brain-eating amoeba: Person dies from Naegleria fowleri in South Carolina, officials say Family says boy was infected with brain-eating amoeba at SC lake The family's statement also said Jaysen Carr developed the infection after swimming at Lake Murray outside Columbia. The SCDPH said it also believed the exposure occurred at the lake. "We cannot be completely certain as this organism occurs naturally and is present in many warm water lakes, rivers and streams," the agency said. What is Naegleria fowleri? Why is it known as a brain-eating amoeba? Naegleria fowleri is a type of amoeba that can cause a rare but nearly always fatal brain infection. It thrives in warm freshwater lakes, rivers and hot springs, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The amoeba is often referred to as brain-eating because it can cause an infection called primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM) that destroys brain tissue. Most people who have been in bodies of waters have been exposed to the amoeba, but contact alone is not harmful, Dr. Anna Kathryn Burch, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at Prisma Health Children's Hospital Midlands, said during a news conference on July 22. "Where it can cause an issue is if forceful water gets up the nose and is able to cross from the nose into the brain," Burch said, adding that a PAM infection causes the brain to swell. To protect against a possible infection, the CDC recommends holding or wearing a nose clip when jumping into fresh water, keeping the head above water in hot springs and using distilled or boiled tap water when rinsing sinuses. Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. She can be reached at This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 12-year-old dies from brain-eating amoeba after swimming in lake
New York Times
4 days ago
- Health
- New York Times
Infection From Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills Boy in South Carolina
A 12-year-old boy died last week in South Carolina from a rare brain-eating amoeba he contracted after swimming in a local reservoir, a lawyer for the boy's family said in a statement on Thursday. Jaysen Carr, a middle school student, contracted the deadly infectious amoeba after swimming in Lake Murray, a reservoir roughly 15 miles from Columbia, S.C., the law firm of Tyler D. Bailey said on Facebook. Jaysen died on July 18. In a briefing on Thursday, Prisma Health Children's Hospital in South Carolina confirmed that Jaysen died from Naegleria fowleri, a brain-eating amoeba that thrives in warm freshwater. It was not immediately clear when he had gone swimming. Dominion Energy, which owns the lake and runs recreational access to it, could not be immediately reached on Saturday. The amoeba is 'ubiquitous to any fresh water in the state of South Carolina' and much of the Southeastern United States, Anna-Kathryn Burch, a doctor of pediatric infectious diseases, said at the briefing. As the weather heats up, the number of amoeba in the water increase while water levels decrease. That is often when infections occur. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
