11-year-old who contracted brain-eating amoeba has died

Hannah Collins died Friday, August 5 at 10:20 p.m., according to a family statement provided to The Beaufort Gazette.

The brain-eating amoeba, which is found in warm freshwater lakes, ponds and rivers, has also been blamed for the death of an 18-year-old in North Carolina in June.

A 11-year-old SC girl has died after becoming infected with the so-called “brain-eating” amoeba.

According to the Beaufort Gazette, Collins was a beauty pageant victor and a student at Riverview Charter School. I feel her with me as I try to go through my day. A post Thursday night on the “Prayers for Hannah Katherine” Facebook page said the hospital had done everything it could for the girl.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said this week that a SC resident had been exposed to the Naegleria fowleri organism, which is found in warm freshwater and triggers an infection that destroys brain tissue.

“The organism is very prevalent in fresh water sources, and we know that there are so many recreational activities that occur in these water sources, and nonetheless there are very few human infections”, said Dr. Linda Bell, South Carolina’s state epidemiologist. For instance, the fatal organism was recently detected in Minnesota, norther than its usual habitat.

Histopathology of primary amebic meningoencephalitis due to Naegleria fowleri.

The drug, miltefosine was requested last Monday and arrived in SC from Orlando early Tuesday morning.

“First, you must be swimming in water in which the amoeba is present”, she said.

“You can not be infected by merely drinking water containing the amoeba”, Bell said.