A 10-year-old girl is in a life-threatening condition after contracting a brain-eating amoeba while swimming in a river.
Little Lily Avant from Fort Worth, Texas, fell ill on Sunday, September 8 after going for a swim in the nearby Brazos River.
Her cousin Wendy Scott said in a Facebook post she was seen by a doctor that night, but it was thought she was suffering from a virus and was sent home.
Her condition deteriorated and when she became incoherent a few days later, her parents took her to the emergency room.
“She was brought into the emergency room on Tuesday when she woke up unresponsive,” Scott posted.
“She was eyes open, she was there, but she wasn’t speaking. Nothing.”
Lily was transferred to Cook Children’s Hospital, where doctors put her in an induced coma.
A spinal tap showed she had contracted Naegleria fowleri, often known as brain-eating amoeba.
Scott said the hospital had the antimicrobial medication needed to save her life.
The amoeba is commonly found in freshwater and soil and causes infection when it enters the brain, usually through the nose.
