A young boy has died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba infection, leaving his family devastated.
Woodrow Bundy, aged 2, died on July 19 from the infection, which his family thinks he contracted while swimming in Ash Springs, Nevada.
A Facebook post shared by many friends of the family said that Woodrow started experiencing flu-like symptoms last week. His mother, Briana Bundy, rushed him to the hospital during the night. At first, doctors thought that the child had meningitis, but worked out that he had an infection of brain-eating amoeba Naegleria fowleri.
Naegleria fowleri is an amoeba, usually found in warmer fresh water such as ponds, lakes, rivers and hot springs. These amoebae can enter the body via the nose, and in very rare cases, cause a condition called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), which has a fatality rate of up to 97 percent.
Between 1962 and 2022, only four out of 157 people infected by the amoeba in the U.S. survived, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data shows. Twenty-nine cases were reported between 2013 and 2022, the majority of cases being in boys under 14.
"It travels to the brain along the olfactory nerve, which is a nerve connecting the nose and the brain that controls our sense of smell," Julia Haston, a medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, previously told Newsweek. "Once the amoeba reaches the brain, it begins destroying brain tissue and causes a devastating infection called primary amoebic meningoencephalitis, which is usually fatal."
"The amoebae... destroy brain tissue by releasing toxic molecules," Haston said. "The immune system tries to fight the infection by sending immune cells and fluid to the brain. The combination of the toxic molecules and the immune response causes brain swelling and death."
Symptoms of PAM begin a week or so after first exposure, and include headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting, progressing to stiff neck, confusion, seizures and hallucinations. Death usually comes within 12 days of the symptoms appearing.
"People infected with N. fowleri die when parts of the brain that control vital functions such as breathing are destroyed," Bobbi Pritt, director of the clinical parasitology laboratory at the Mayo Clinic, previously told Newsweek. "The damage is caused by the amoebae feeding on brain tissue, as well as from brain swelling associated with infection. As the brain swells, it is forced through small openings like the foramen magnum (the opening of the skull to the spinal canal) which leads to tissue death."
"The infected person has no specific, pre-existing defense methods to the amoebae, so they are unable to contain the infection on their own," Pritt said. "In the rare instances where people survived, it was because the infection was diagnosed early on, before much damage was done, and they were treated very aggressively."
The few recorded survivors of the infection were treated using several drugs to fight the amoeba and reduce brain swelling. This treatment doesn't always work, however.
In a Facebook post from family friend Kimberly Fritz, an update from Briana was shared:
"Woodrow has the brain-eating amoeba. 99 percent dead rate. The cdc has refused to give the medication because he is past the point of any survivor. the dr [doctor] did not take that well and found something similar somewhere else. His spinal fluid improved. He currently shows no brain activity but there are still a few things we are trying," she said, according to the post.
"Our precious nephew returned home to our father in heaven early this morning. He was only but 2 years old. Perhaps he just had too much goodness in him to stay. I believe strongly we will be with him again. He is loved so much by a very large family. Thank you everyone for your prayers," Lisa Bundy, the boy's aunt, posted on Facebook.
A GoFundMe has been set up to cover the toddler's medical and funeral costs. So far, they have raised $9,400 of their $20,000 goal.
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