BREVARD COUNTY, Fla.,None — A 16-year-old girl has died after she was infected by an amoeba in Brevard County, according to officials. The Brevard County Health Department told WFTV it believes Courtney Nash was infected during a recent swim in the St. John's River.
A family friend told WFTV the 16-year-old passed away Saturday afternoon.
Officials believe Nash, who was an Astronaut High School student, may have come across the amoeba while swimming in the St. John's River, not far from her family's home in Mims last week.
Nash was apparently suffering from some of the symptoms of an amoeba infection, ranging from fever, nausea and headaches to confusion and delirium. Nash was taken to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando. The State Health Department said she had a case of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis.
Doctors said they performed a spinal tap on Nash and found the amoeba called naegleria in her spinal fluid. Samples were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for confirmation.
Health officials said this kind of infection is almost always fatal. But they also said contracting the life-threatening amoeba is rare. They told WFTV that cases like this almost always happen in the summer and only in freshwater lakes and ponds where water is above 80 degrees.
The amoebas typically live at the bottom of those bodies of water, and when stirred up, it can enter the human body through the nose or ear canal, according to health officials. The infection normally sets in quickly and symptoms are almost immediate, including fever, headache, nausea and disorientation.
WFTV found out the last time Brevard County had an infection like this was nine years ago and that case was fatal.
Prevention is the key. The Brevard County Health Department recommends the following:
Dont swim or jump into warm, stagnant, fresh water, such as ponds or warm water discharge pools, or non-chlorinated swimming pools.
Dont swim in polluted water.
Dont swim in areas posted as No Swimming.
Hold your nose, or use nose plugs when jumping or diving into water.
Three Central Florida boys died from amoeba infections in 2007, including 11-year-old Will Sellers, 14-year-old Angel Arroya-Vasquez and 10-year-old Richard Almeida.
Health officials believe that Arroya picked up the deadly parasite while swimming in a pool.
Sellars and Almedia got sick after swimming in local lakes.
DONATIONS AND FUNDRAISERS FOR COURTNEY
- Donations can be made at any Wells Fargo/Wachovia branch under her name.
- Hot Dog, Sloppy Joe & Bake Sale will be held on Monday, August 15, at the sixth-story lobby of the Brevard County Clerk of Court Office.
- There will be a pizza party & bake sale on Wednesday, August 17 between 11:30am-1:00pm at the sixth-story lobby of the Brevard County Clerk of Court Office.
WFTV
