People across the country are praying for a 13-year-old Florida boy battling a brain-eating amoeba following a trip to Port Charlotte Beach.Caleb Ziegelbauer and his family visited Port Charlotte Beach on July 1. According to a GoFundMe page, the water in Port Charlotte is “brackish,” meaning it is a mixture of river water and seawater. A week later, the teen began suffering from headaches and hallucinations.When Ziegelbauer’s parents took him to the emergency room, doctors determined a brain-eating amoeba had entered his body through his nose and infected his brain.There was some confusion after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that samples from Ziegelbauer’s cerebrospinal fluid tested negative for Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as brain-eating amoeba.However, Lee Health released a statement explaining that it is common for Naegleria fowleri not to be initially detected in patients suffering from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which is the infection caused by the amoeba. “Due to Caleb’s symptoms, his reported recent exposure to brackish water, and his clinical course, infectious disease physicians at Golisano Children’s Hospital believe he could still have PAM caused by Naegleria fowleri and thus recommended to continue treating him for this infection,” the statement reads. “On July 10, as per the protocol for laboratory evaluation of PAM, communication with the local Department of Health occurred and then subsequent communication with the CDC to facilitate testing of the sample. Even though there was not a confirmed result for PAM to report to the Department of Health (due to inconclusive tests), Caleb’s doctors believe this to be the cause of his illness and are treating him accordingly.”Ziegelbauer’s family remains hopeful and has released updates on their GoFundMe page, which has raised nearly $50,000. “He is off blood pressure medications at the moment! They stopped the paralytic and Caleb started to initiate his own breathing with the ventilator again,” the latest update reads. “Tomorrow morning, around 6:30 a.m., they’re going to take Caleb down for a repeat MRI. I cannot stress enough how much we need to see some good news.”Caleb’s aunt, Katie Chiet, asked that people send love out into the universe in the boy’s name.
People across the country are praying for a 13-year-old Florida boy battling a brain-eating amoeba following a trip to Port Charlotte Beach.
Caleb Ziegelbauer and his family visited Port Charlotte Beach on July 1. According to a GoFundMe page, the water in Port Charlotte is “brackish,” meaning it is a mixture of river water and seawater.
A week later, the teen began suffering from headaches and hallucinations.
When Ziegelbauer’s parents took him to the emergency room, doctors determined a brain-eating amoeba had entered his body through his nose and infected his brain.
There was some confusion after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that samples from Ziegelbauer’s cerebrospinal fluid tested negative for Naegleria fowleri, commonly referred to as brain-eating amoeba.
However, Lee Health released a statement explaining that it is common for Naegleria fowleri not to be initially detected in patients suffering from primary amebic meningoencephalitis, which is the infection caused by the amoeba.
“Due to Caleb’s symptoms, his reported recent exposure to brackish water, and his clinical course, infectious disease physicians at Golisano Children’s Hospital believe he could still have PAM caused by Naegleria fowleri and thus recommended to continue treating him for this infection,” the statement reads. “On July 10, as per the protocol for laboratory evaluation of PAM, communication with the local Department of Health occurred and then subsequent communication with the CDC to facilitate testing of the sample. Even though there was not a confirmed result for PAM to report to the Department of Health (due to inconclusive tests), Caleb’s doctors believe this to be the cause of his illness and are treating him accordingly.”
Ziegelbauer’s family remains hopeful and has released updates on their GoFundMe page, which has raised nearly $50,000.
“He is off blood pressure medications at the moment! They stopped the paralytic and Caleb started to initiate his own breathing with the ventilator again,” the latest update reads. “Tomorrow morning, around 6:30 a.m., they’re going to take Caleb down for a repeat MRI. I cannot stress enough how much we need to see some good news.”
Caleb’s aunt, Katie Chiet, asked that people send love out into the universe in the boy’s name.
