Tag: #Amoeba

The Times of #Israel : She noted that a #fever, #headaches, and changes in #consciousness are always reasons to seek #MedicalAttention.

By Diana Bletter Follow
6 September 2026, 2:21 pm

The #amoeba causes an extremely rare but highly fatal #infection of the central nervous system. Fewer than 500 cases have been reported #worldwide, including two in the US over the past year. #Israel has seen three recorded cases in recent years.

Of the three cases recently in Israel, two ended in #death, Ynet reported. In 2022, a 36-year-old man died from the #infection, and then in 2024, another #man, aged 26, died. Three weeks later, a 10-year-old boy was #infected during a #family visit to the #SeaOfGalilee. According to Ynet, after months in #hospital, he was moved home but remains in serious #condition.

The Times of #Israel : Dr. Danny Eytan, director of the #paediatric critical care unit at Rambam, told media the boy had arrived the day before.

By Diana Bletter Follow
6 September 2026, 2:21 pm

During tests, “a suspicion arose that it was an #amoeba #infection,” he said

Eitan said that though the boy is in “very serious condition,” “we hope for the best.”

“We are exposed to this amoeba, and in most cases we don’t even know it,” Rotem Lapidot, director of the infectious #diseases department at Rambam, told the Ynet news outlet. “In very rare cases it manages to enter the brain and cause a serious infection.”

Lapidot said #symptoms begin with a #HighTemperature, #headaches, #vomiting, #nausea, and #NeurologicalSymptoms, usually affecting #consciousness.

The Times of #Israel : Boy in #CriticalCondition with rare ‘ #BrainEatingAmoeba’ after #SeaOfGalilee swim

By Diana Bletter Follow
6 September 2026, 2:21 pm

Nine-year-old #hospitalized in intensive care unit as #HealthMinistry identifies #infection caused by rare, potentially fatal #NaegleriaFowleri.

A 9-year-old child was hospitalized in serious condition with #inflammation of the brain in the intensive care unit at Rambam Health Care Campus in Haifa, the Health Ministry said Sunday, after being #infected with a very rare “ #BrainEating” #Amoeba, apparently while swimming in the Sea of Galilee.

Tests sent to the ministry’s #laboratory overnight confirmed that the boy contracted an #encephalitis #infection from Naegleria fowleri, an amoeba that can be fatal.

He was identified in #Hebrew media as Baruch Neriya from Pardes Hannah. His #family asked that people pray for the recovery of their son. The ministry said he is sedated and intubated at the #hospital.

An initial epidemiological #investigation revealed that the #child swam at Kursi Beach on the Sea of Galilee about a week before he was hospitalized.