A 6-year-old boy infected with "brain eating worms"! The mortality rate is 98%, critically ill! After playing by the seaside, Xiaoding | Child | Boy
Recently, Ms. Miao, a parent of a child in Guizhou, continued to record her child's medical experience when Xiaoding fell ill online.
According to the information sent by Ms. Miao, Xiaoding, who was over 6 years old, developed fever symptoms after traveling to Hainan and returned home. The fever did not improve for more than ten days, and he went to several hospitals for treatment. Recently, he was also admitted to the intensive care unit. Finally, it was found that the child was infected with a type of meningitis called "amoeba baboon", and the mortality rate of encephalitis caused by brain eating insects was as high as 98%.
Xiao Ding was sent to the intensive care unit for treatment
After playing by the seaside
Children infected with brain eating insects develop meningitis
"I took my doll to Haikou for a trip and went swimming at the beach. There were so many dolls swimming and playing with sand at the beach, and there was nothing wrong. How could my doll catch it? This probability is even more exaggerated than winning a big prize, and my doll can actually touch it," Ms. Miao wrote in the article. Red Star News reporters noticed that Ms. Miao posted two travel records in Hainan on June 3, stating that her original intention was to "take a doll to see the world, get to know the sea, and relax and be happy.".
Red Star News attempted to contact Ms. Miao, but as of publication, no response has been received. At around 11:00 on June 26th, the reporter learned from an insider that Xiaoding was indeed admitted to the hospital for this rare disease and is still receiving treatment in the hospital, with a very serious condition.
According to the content released by Ms. Miao, initially, Xiaoding had a fever of up to 39 degrees on the evening of June 9th. The next day, parents took their children to the local county hospital for treatment. The doctor prescribed medication to treat tonsillitis. After taking the medication, Xiaoding's fever subsided, but after a while, he developed a fever. The child has been running a fever for several days, and the parents have visited several hospitals to check the child's liver function, blood routine, etc. The hospital has adopted infusion and other methods, but the child still has a persistent fever and sleepiness. When transferring to a children's hospital in Guiyang where the child is currently located, the child has already developed a coma.
The hospital issued a critical illness notice
At a children's hospital in Guiyang, Xiaoding was transferred to the intensive care unit. On June 21st, the hospital issued a critical illness notice for the child, which showed that the hospital diagnosed the child with acute purulent meningitis, with symptoms such as persistent epilepsy, central respiratory failure, and bronchopneumonia. The child's condition is critical, with insufficient blood pressure maintenance, and the condition may worsen at any time, endangering life.
Ms. Miao announced on June 25th that Xiaoding's cerebrospinal fluid test results showed that "the one causing children to become like this is a parasite called 'Amoeba baboon', which lives in tropical and subtropical regions and is also known as a brain eating worm. This worm exists in warm water, swimming pools, rivers, forests, decaying trees, leaves, mud, and sand. There are only about 200 cases worldwide, and only a few in China." Ms. Miao also mentioned that the child's condition is very poor, and they cannot breathe on their own after removing their ventilator. The reason why she wrote about her child's situation is to make other mothers wary of brain eating insects.
Ms. Miao posted online news of her child being infected with brain eating insects
The mortality rate of brain eating insects is as high as 98%
Still a challenge in the medical industry to this day
The Red Star News reporter noticed that the National Medical Center for Infectious Diseases and the Infection Department of Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University had released the death of another 15-year-old child Arvin due to the infection of baboon Balamhimiba encephalitis through the official official account "Huashan Infection".
The treatment of baboon balamoebic encephalitis remains a challenge in today's medical community. The overall prognosis of this disease is poor, with a mortality rate of up to 98%, and only a few successful treatment cases have been reported globally. And all successful treatment cases require several months or even years of drug treatment, including medications such as pentamidine, sulfamethoxazole, metformin, phenothiazine compounds, macrolide antibiotics, albendazole, fluconazole, and flucytosine. Due to the limited number of successfully treated patients, a standard treatment plan has not yet been established.
Awen was born in Guizhou and often swims in his hometown's ponds. In December 2018, he developed a nasal injury and histopathological examination revealed granulomatous lesions. On May 23, 2019, he developed a fever. On June 2, Awen sought medical attention at Huashan Hospital. After metagenomic second-generation sequencing, Awen's cerebrospinal fluid showed 150 fragments of the B. mandrillaris sequence, with a relative abundance of 87.13%. This name is also a relatively unfamiliar pathogen to clinical doctors, called "Baboon Baramheiamoeba". On June 9th of the same year, Awan passed away despite unsuccessful rescue efforts.
The article on "Huashan Infection" also mentioned that the baboon Balamiamoeba was first discovered in 1990, and the infected person was a pregnant mother baboon who eventually died from meningoencephalitis caused by the pathogen. Balam's amoebic encephalitis often occurs in patients with skin lesions, especially on the face. After amoeba invades the bloodstream, it enters the brain through the blood-brain barrier. Immune compromised individuals are more susceptible to infection, but there are also potential hazards to healthy individuals.
Chengdu Business Daily - Red Star News reporter Chen Qingyuan
