A teenager in Florida is battling for his life.
The teenager has been hospitalized due to a rare case of "brain-eating amoeba."
The 13-year-old, Caleb Ziegelbauer, was taken to the emergency room after experiencing headaches and hallucinations, according to NBC2.
It appears the symptoms developed after a trip to the beach at Port Charlotte.
The teen has reportedly been battling for weeks after the trip, which took place on July 1. His parents were told by doctors at Golisano Children’s Hospital the "brain-eating amoeba" entered his body through his nose and was able to infect his brain. The scientific name for the amoeba is Naegleria fowleri.
The boy's aunt says that the family is hopeful that her nephew got treatment in time. She noted that the disease is fatal when people "don't get to the hospital quickly enough" as they are unaware of the urgency of the situation. “Unfortunately the Naegleria fowleri presents as if a child has meningitis,” she said of the fact that they didn't realize immediately that his illness was related to being in the water.
In a Facebook post, she also revealed details about her nephew's condition. “He was extubated last night; he’s breathing on his own, stable, and being loved on by his parents,” she wrote. “He’s in a minimally conscious state, so he has very short periods of awareness/wakefulness, but is otherwise sleeping and fighting like hell. His MRI shows more inflammation in his brain, especially by his nasal canal.”
Another aunt, Elizabeth Ziegelbaur, said her nephew had the “kindest soul,” adding, “He’s so strong. Like the fighting on the outside, that’s what we’re doing. He is fighting his little heart out on the inside.”
Naegleria fowleri is found in warm bodies of freshwater that rarely makes its way into the bodies of humans. However, when it does, it can cause an infection of the brain called primary amebic meningoencephalitis. Rising water temperatures can make the infections more common.
News of the teen's infection comes just a week after a man died in Iowa of the same illness. He had developed the infection after swimming in a lake.
