After an 8-year-old girl from Louisiana died from a rare brain-eating amoeba, medical experts are urging freshwater swimming safety ahead of Labor Day weekend.
Lillian Smart, from Ruston, died just one day after her birthday from Naegleria fowleri, an organism found thriving in freshwater rivers, ponds and hot springs.
Smart possibly became infected after a swim in Lake Claiborne.
While doctors said swimming is safe, one should always assume there is a risk when entering fresh, warm water.
“The exposures are due to having freshwater with the amoeba actually go into the nose, deepen into the base of the brain,” said Dr. Julio Figueroa, director of infectious disease at LSU Health. “The organism is very efficient at doing the damage that it’s doing. So, it’s not like, some people are susceptible, and some people aren’t.”
Dr. Figueroa urged that freshwater swimmers keep their heads above the water, avoid diving, and consider wearing nose plugs.
From 2025 to 1937, an 88-year time frame, the Louisiana Health Department reported there were 180 known cases in the United States. Three of those cases were recorded in Louisiana.
“It’s not like we all have to be fearful of what’s going on,” Figueroa said, “But I think we just need to be safe in terms of being able to prevent those kinds of incidents from happening, if at all possible.”
Symptoms include severe headache and nausea, with the possibility of progressing to a seizure and coma.
They typically appear about five days after being infected, but can also start within one to 12 days.
READ MORE:Freshwater swimming safety ahead of Labor Day weekend: what to know
