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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Dr. Marc Siegel

Aired July 27, 2002 - 07:33   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.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: A 12-year-old boy has died from a rare brain infection after swimming in a central lake in Florida. Now, the warm waters of Florida are ideal for amoebas to thrive. And that can make swimming in lakes very hazardous, as we're learning.

Joining me now to talk about that is Dr. Marc Siegel, of the New York University School of Medicine. Doctor, thanks so much for joining us this morning. Let's get right into this. Explain what we know about this bacterial infection. You know, what causes it?

DR. MARC SIEGEL, NEW YORK UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Well, Thomas, this is caused by an amoeba called Naegleria. That is in almost 50 percent of Florida's lakes. But, what's especially problematic is when the lakes heat up, especially in the summertime, and if these lakes aren't fed by streams, and they don't have a fresh supply of water running through them, the amoebas tend to surface, and they get into the nasal passages and from there they can infect the lining of the brain, which is called the meninges.

The problem is that there's almost no way to predict when this is going to happen. It's actually a very rare infection; we've only had a couple hundred cases of this. Nation-wide. But, when you do get this, it's almost uniformly fatal. There's only been four survivors in the whole time that we've seen this.

ROBERTS: So, as you're saying, very rare. But, in this case, you know, we're talking about it now and we want to learn more about how do we catch this infection; are some people more susceptible than others. Does it attack the young, would it attack the elderly, how will we get this?

SIEGEL: Well, healthy people can get this. That's what's worrisome about it. Children tend to get it the most, but that's because children are swimming in these lakes. The best way to prevent this is not to swim in these lakes. Also, there was a child earlier in the week that got a serious infection through a cut. So, I would say don't swim with cuts, don't swim in stagnant or brackish waters. You know, try to swim in the ocean, try to swim in streams. You can wear protective gear to protect the nose from the entry of these amoeba but I think that that's too much, I think that you're better off avoiding lakes like these.

ROBERTS: And, Dr. Siegel, you said there are four people that had contracted this that did survive? SIEGEL: Four people survived. There's a treatment called anthetericin (ph) but it doesn't work that well. So, occasionally somebody will survive this, but it's almost uniformly fatal.

ROBERTS: And as we're learning about the other little boy in this, what's the latest on his condition? And, should we be looking out, especially parents in Florida. Should they be keeping their kids out of the lakes there?

SIEGEL: The other boy got a bacteria. That is more easy for us to treat. He has been responding to treatment. But, again, I would say that parents should caution their children or watch not to have their children swim in still waters. Especially in the heat. We've had a hotter summer than previous, and that's one of the reasons that this is happening. I think in the heat, you should stay out of still water.

ROBERTS: Yeah, especially now that we're learning more about this. Dr. Siegel, thanks so much for joining us this morning and giving us some more insight into this.

SIEGEL: Thank you very much, Tom.

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