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CNN Live Today
Florida Experts Warning Swimmers to Stay Out of State's Lakes Today
Aired July 26, 2002 - 11:19 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: On the health news now, and Florida experts are warning swimmers to stay out of the state's lakes today. Two central Florida boys are in the hospital this morning, and both have rare illnesses that they picked up in the water. One is in critical with a brain infection, and the other has a bloodstream infection. The illnesses are caused by organisms that entered the body through the nose or wounds.
Reporter George Estevez from our Orlando Affiliate WFTV has the story.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CLINT CAINE, LONG LAKE RESIDENT: The whole fact that you can't see them, you don't know where they are, you don't know when they're coming. All of a sudden you fall and you take a big breath, and you're dead.
GEORGE ESTEVEZ, WFTV REPORTER: Strong words from a teenager scared to go in the lake right behind his own house.
CAINE: I don't plan on going on to the water until the water temperature goes down.
ESTEVEZ: Clint Caine lives on Long Lake, one of two lakes which may have contained the amoeba that effected a 12-year-old boy. That boy is now in a Florida hospital with a deadly disease. The unidentified boy is being treated for primary amoebic encephalitis, a disease called by nugleria (ph), an amoeba commonly found in lakes.
DR. JAMIE CARAZOSA, FLORIDA HOSPITAL: Most of the cases have been reported from Florida.
ESTEVEZ: Dr. Jamie Carazosa says, cases are more common in Florida because the amoeba thrives in hot temperatures, usually above 80 degrees. Dr. Carazosa is treating the 12-year-old, and says the condition is 95 percent deadly, because it causes swelling of the brain.
CARAZOSA: When you have swelling and inflation, you know, you increase tremendously the amount of fluid, so your intracranial pressure goes up very high and your brain is squashed. ESTEVEZ: Despite the very fatal outcome, there is little the Florida Department of Health says they can do, because the amoeba is found in every lake.
Troy Attaway works for Winter Park's lakes division and says screening to the amoeba isn't effective.
TROY ATTAWAY, WINTER PARK LAKES DIV.: Even though you might even have the presence of the amoeba in your test, it doesn't necessarily mean that things are bad.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lakes are usually full of people, and there is no one is out here. It' kind of scary in a way.
ESTEVEZ: George Estevez, Channel 9 Eyewitness News.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
KAGAN: Now there are all sorts of bugs that are common in Florida's warm waters. Still, health experts are surprised by the double whammy of these two infections in just one week. We've called on Dr. Steven Wiersma. He's with the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee.
Dr. Wiersma, good morning. Thanks for joining us.
DR. STEVEN WIERSMA, FLORIDA DEPT. OF HEALTH: Good morning.
KAGAN: First of all, looking at Florida, you have some elements there that come together that make for a very nice and comfortable home for these type of amoeba. You have fresh water and warm water. Why is that important?
WIERSMA: Well, the amoeba seem to flourish in warm water, usually lakes with temperature above 80 degrees, and certainly we have that in Florida. But this really isn't just a Florida issue; these are worldwide issues.
KAGAN: And it's not a new thing, these amoebas, they've been in the water for a long time. I understand you can also find them in a lot of soil. So why now? Why do you think the boys have gotten sick?
WIERSMAN: We hear about cases very rarely. It is a rare condition, fortunately. These are really individual tragedies, from time to time, we do hear about cases, and they are associated with swimming.
KAGAN: And is there the warning don't go swimming at all, or if you, just go make sure you don't get water up your nose, or?
WIERSMA: Well, really we look at these as individual tragedies. The risk to public's health is not there. These organisms are found worldwide in many other states besides Florida. Really, there is not a very effective prevention for these cases. You'd have to stop swimming to prevent a single case. And like I said before, we don't even hear about one case per year. KAGAN: And not just swimming, but like water skiing and other watersports where you might take in a lot of water.
WIERSMA: Exactly.
Now these are just for the amoeba cases. Now the other tragic case we're hearing about can be found in soil, not just water. So then you have those exposures as well. Again, both of these are extremely rare conditions. We have beautiful outdoors here. We believe people should continue to enjoy the outdoors, enjoy swimming. There's probably some bodies of waters that are more at risk, and they should avoid those stagnant, really superheated bodies of water.
KAGAN: how can you tell?
WIERSMA: Well, you can feel it. I mean, temperatures over 80 degrees are -- feel quite warm to touch. But, again, that -- even that isn't going to completely remove the risk. We've read about cases in the world's literature that've occurred in poorly chlorinated swimming pools even, so it's a very difficult condition to prevent.
KAGAN: Fortunately, it is very rare.
Is there something you can do, like maybe you go swimming, and then, like, you shower real quickly afterwards, or once you've been exposed you're exposed.
WIERSMA: Well, again, we're talking about two different conditions, but with the case of the free swimming amoebas, we believe they entered through the nose, and then entered the olfactory nerve as a route to the brain. Some people have suggested wearing the old- fashioned nose clip.
KAGAN: Yes, I remember those.
WIERSMA: Again, it's such a rare condition that you can't even study them, so it's really hard to know whether that would be effective. There's some thought that that makes sense, but again, as a practical, preventative measure, we don't think that is really that practical.
KAGAN: And then, finally, once somebody gets this amoeba, are they then contagious to other humans?
WIERSMA: No, absolutely not.
KAGAN: So this is just an couple of isolated bad luck incidents with these two boys.
WIERSMA: Very unfortunate. Unfortunately, both illnesses do have high mortality associated with them.
KAGAN: Dr. Steven Wiersma, from the Florida Department of Health in Tallahassee, thanks for coming on with the additional information. And hopefully, people not being too scared from enjoying the lakes in Florida. WIERSMA: No, thanks.
KAGAN: Thank you so much.
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