10-year-old in critical condition due to brain-eating amoeba from water park

The condition of the 10-year-old boy who contracted the brain-eating amoeba continues to deteriorate, and doctors are helpless: The child contracted the amoeba that entered through his nose while swimming in the Sea of Galilee.

A Health Ministry examination this evening found that the source of the infection is at the Hamat Gader water park. The ministry ordered the immediate closure of the park and called on all bathers who feel unwell to immediately go to the emergency room.

The ministry announced this evening that water samples were sent from the park where the child and the deceased young man stayed two weeks ago to laboratories, and the investigation revealed that in both cases, the child and the young man bathed at the Hamat Gader water park and contracted the same amoeba. The ministry sent water samples from the park to laboratories.

Meanwhile, the ministry requested that anyone who was at the water park and experienced one or more of the following symptoms: fever, headache, blurred vision, or vomiting, go to the nearest hospital emergency room for a medical examination. The Health Ministry is also working at this time to instruct hospitals on the matter.

The incident began when the child, a resident of the northern district, a healthy 10-year-old with no preexisting conditions, was rushed to Ziv Hospital in Safed, where the staff identified that he had a brain infection. He underwent blood tests and a spinal tap that confirmed it was indeed an infection of the central nervous system. A sample was sent to Health Ministry laboratories, which confirmed that it was the rare amoeba Naegleria fowleri (known as the "brain-eating amoeba").

It should be noted that about two weeks ago, an Israeli died after contracting the same amoeba following a swim in the Sea of Galilee. He also suffered from meningitis, was transferred to Beilinson Hospital for treatment, where doctors fought for his life, but he passed away.

An amoeba is a single-celled organism about a tenth of a millimeter in diameter, capable of changing its shape and even collapsing its structure to capture and swallow prey. An amoeba enters the body through the nose and can reach the brain, where it causes inflammation of the nervous system. The Naegleria fowleri amoeba usually inhabits freshwater, puddles, or various types of stagnant water.

The disease can cause death within a few days after the amoeba enters the body through the nose directly to the brain, which is why its effects are so rapid. There is no specific treatment for amoeba infection, but a combination of several antibiotics and antifungal drugs with steroids to reduce brain swelling is typically used. The mortality rate from brain inflammation due to amoeba is very high and can reach 98 percent.

Previous infections

In recent years in Israel, there has been one fatal case of amoeba infection. In August 2022, a 36-year-old man died of severe brain inflammation after contracting the same amoeba – Naegleria fowleri. The patient, a resident of the north who was previously healthy, was diagnosed at Poriya Hospital. It is known that a puddle of water contaminated with amoebas entered his nose.

Symptoms of amoebic brain inflammation usually appear within about ten days of infection and include high fever, severe headaches that worsen even during sleep, nausea and vomiting, neck stiffness, seizures, loss of consciousness, and death. Experts called on anyone who swam in a freshwater lake and felt one or more of these symptoms to urgently seek medical attention.