'Brain-eating' amoebas kill nearly 100% of victims. Could new treatments change that?

'Brain-eating' amoebas kill nearly 100% of victims. Could new treatments change that? | Can you get a brain-eating amoeba from tap water? | 'Brain-eating' infections could become more common, scientists warn Created for {EMAIL} | [Web Version]( July 29, 2024 CONNECT WITH LIVESCIENCE  [Facebook]( [X](  [LIVESCIENCE]( Amazing science every day [SIGN UP]( ⋅ [WEBSITE](   Top Science News [] ['Brain-eating' amoebas kill nearly 100% of victims. Could new treatments change that?]( (Marilyn Perkins for Live Science) ['Brain-eating' amoebas kill nearly 100% of victims. Could new treatments change that?]( On a hot Saturday in San Antonio over 10 years ago, an 8-year-old boy was rushed to the hospital after days of fever, headache, vomiting and sensitivity to light. The child was unconscious and unresponsive to sound, light or other stimuli. Doctors put the child on a ventilator and began a breakneck effort to find out what was wrong. What they discovered, swimming in the boy's cerebrospinal fluid, was an organism that left little room for hope: Naegleria fowleri, more popularly known as a "brain-eating amoeba." The child's prognosis was grim. He had been sick for five days before arriving in San Antonio, and most people who contract an infection with N. fowleri die about five days after symptoms start. But the doctor treating him had recently read that a new drug option, miltefosine, had been approved as an experimental treatment for N. fowleri infections. He added it to the boy's drug regimen. It's rare to become ill from an infection with this amoeba — and it's very, very rare to survive. But the few recent survivors may owe their recovery to miltefosine. New drugs may be on the horizon as well. The question is whether they can reach patients before the damage is done. [Read More]( [] - [Can you get a brain-eating amoeba from tap water?]( [] - ['Brain-eating' infections could become more common, scientists warn]( [] - [This is what it's like to treat a 'brain-eating' amoeba infection]( [] History & Archaeology [] [Teotihuacan's 'Pyramid of the Moon' is aligned with the solstice sun, researchers argue]( (Photo by Rafael Morales Orozco, retouching by Arturo Montero) [Teotihuacan's 'Pyramid of the Moon' is aligned with the solstice sun, researchers argue]( The "Pyramid of the Moon" in Teotihuacan, an ancient city in Mexico, may align with the solstice sun, a team argues. [Read More]( [] Your Brain [] [Why do we see colors that aren't there?]( (Zhengshun Tang via Getty Images) [Why do we see colors that aren't there?]( Here's how our brains construct color in our environment. [Read More]( [] Animals [] [Dogs can smell their humans' stress, and it makes them sad]( (Catherine Falls Commercial via Getty Images) [Dogs can smell their humans' stress, and it makes them sad]( Dogs can smell when people are stressed, and it seems to make them feel downhearted. [Read More]( [] Physics & Math [] ['A remarkable conspiracy': Why is matter neutral? Physicist Frank Close explores the mystery in a new book]( (Rost-9D via Getty Images) ['A remarkable conspiracy': Why is matter neutral? Physicist Frank Close explores the mystery in a new book]( Frank Close tells us about the history of particle physics, and what it means that charge in our universe's matter is so closely balanced. [Read More]( [] Technology [] [Scientists achieve record-breaking 402 Tbps data transmission speeds — 1.6 million times faster than home broadband]( (Yuichiro Chino/Getty Images) [Scientists achieve record-breaking 402 Tbps data transmission speeds — 1.6 million times faster than home broadband]( Scientists break data transmission rate world record for a second time this year — boosting fiber-optic speeds by 25% to a staggering 402 Tbps. [Read More]( [] Daily Quiz [] Which Olympic sport burns the most calories? Learn the answer [here](. [Vote]( [Running]( [Vote]( [Rowing]( [Vote]( [Breaking]( [Vote]( [Gymnastics](   [Sign Up]( | [Update Profile]( | [Unsubscribe]( [Privacy Policy]( | [Cookies Policy]( | [Terms and Conditions]( CONTACT US: [FEEDBACK](mailto:livescience@smartbrief.com) | [ADVERTISE]( [Future]( Future US LLC © Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, New York, NY, 10036