Boy diagnosed with rare ‘brain-eating amoeba’ is in critical condition
Patient presented with symptoms after swimming at a Tiberias water park, where a man who died of the infection a few weeks ago was exposed to the rare organism
Reporter at The Times of Israel
A 10-year-old child hospitalized at Ziv Medical Center in Safed suffering from encephalitis caused by a rare “brain-eating” amoeba is in critical condition, said a hospital spokesperson on Thursday.
The boy was exposed to the very rare amoeba, Naegleria fowleri, at Gai Beach water park in Tiberias.
This is the same location visited by a 25-year-old man contracted the disease and died in early July.
The Health Ministry ordered the park closed on Wednesday.
Environmental health inspectors had examined the beach after the first case was reported, but no initial evidence of amoeba contamination was found.
The amoeba, known as Naegleria fowleri, lives in soil and warm freshwater, such as lakes, rivers, and hot springs. It is commonly called the “brain-eating amoeba” due to the brain infection it can cause if water containing the amoeba goes up the nose, according to the US Centers for Disease Control.
Dr. Hillel Frankental, a senior specialist in the pediatric intensive care unit at Ziv said that the pediatric team “quickly suspected” the boy had contracted the Naegleria fowleri infection and began a comprehensive antibiotic treatment even before receiving definitive lab identification.
The ministry urges anyone who has been at the Gai Beach water park in recent weeks and is suffering from fever, headache, blurred vision, or vomiting to go to the emergency room.
Anyone without these symptoms does not need to seek medical attention, even if they were at the park, the ministry said. It asks people to contact their health maintenance organization to get a referral before going to the emergency room.
After the ministry’s announcement, 19 children with mild symptoms arrived overnight at the emergency department at Ziv. Out of these, five were hospitalized for further tests and observation. Five adults also arrived and, after undergoing tests, were discharged.
Other hospitals in the north of the country saw several dozen people who were concerned about possible infection after spending time around the Sea of Galilee recently. All were examined and discharged.
In August 2022, a 36-year-old Israeli man died of primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, a brain infection caused by the same amoeba.
These are the only three recorded cases in Israel.
Only some 400 cases have ever been diagnosed worldwide, “with only a few survivors,” said Dr. Farah Hanna, a pediatric infectious disease specialist at the hospital. “We all hope that the rapid identification of the disease will save the boy’s life.”