A 6-year-old Texas boy died from a brain-eating amoeba. His mom wants others to know the symptoms
A Texas mother is in mourning after her 6-year-old son died from a brain-eating amoeba earlier this month.
Maria Castillo told KTRK-TV that her son, Josiah Christopher McIntyre, quickly went downhill in a matter of days.
He complained of a headache on a Thursday.
"Friday, it was vomiting and throwing up and still the headache," Castillo told the TV station. "But I mean, kids get sick. It's normal. Kids vomit. Kids run a fever."
He tested negative for COVID-19 on a Saturday. And then on Sunday, Josiah was disoriented and doctors discovered brain swelling. He died on Sept. 8.
He was not in a pond or a lake — only a splash pad, Castillo said.
She wants other parents to be on the lookout for flu-like symptoms that could be something more.
On Saturday, residents of eight cities have been alerted that a brain-eating amoeba was found in a southeast Texas water supply, leading one of the towns to issue a disaster declaration, but Castillo didn't comment on the water ban in her community.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that while Naegleria fowleri infections are rare, most are fatal. From 2009 to 2018, only 34 infections were reported in the United States. Of those reported cases, 30 people were infected by recreational water.
According to the CDC, 145 people were infected from 1962 to 2018. Only four survived.
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