Gompf's ID Pearls …& Infectious Bytes, the Blog

This post is dedicated to the children and adults who have died from Naegleria fowleri meningo-encephalitis, an easily preventable disease that can tear a child from a family within days and in a most terrible way, all from doing what they love–playing in a warm lake, pond, river, or hot spring in the summer. We who endure the journey believe that one more child is one too many. We have each committed to promoting awareness of this disease so that other parents might not have to join us on this bitter road.

Philip loved Nature! Enjoy summers with simple good sense. Please download and share this flyer:

http://www.gompfsidpearls.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/AmoebaAwarenessInMemoriam.pdf

DO:

1. Enjoy salt water and other activities when water is over 80 degrees F.
2. Ask public officials to post lake temperatures in summer. Many areas post temperatures for fishermen online. Find regional temperatures at http://waterwatch.usgs.gov/wqwatch/.
3. Keep head above water, or use nose clips (probably helpful in theory, no research data on this), if you can’t avoid warm fresh water. (Note: Swim masks/snorkels may be riskier, water may be inhaled.)
4. Teach kids not to suck water up the nose in the tub or fresh water.
5. Keep your water heater temperature @ 120 degrees Fahrenheit (just low enough to prevent accidental scalding).
6. Use previously boiled water, or buy distilled water for your neti pot or nasal wash.
7. Check pool & spa water chemistry regularly.

NEVER:

1. Put head underwater in ANY fresh water over 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This includes: Lakes, running rivers or streams, ponds, wells, hot springs, warm mineral springs, or geothermal pools, bathtubs, at any depth.
2. Put head underwater in hot tubs, spas, or pools that are under-chlorinated and warm, such as abandoned pools.
3. Get tap water forced up the nose, as can happen with kids drinking or flushing the face with an outdoor hose, in a bath, or wakeboarding.
4. Use a neti pot or nasal or sinus wash with unboiled tap water.
5. Get water up the nose that sits exposed to soil and heat, like a kiddie pool.

Also visit the Kyle Lewis Amoeba Awareness Foundation & Centers for Disease Control-Naegleria fowleri for more information.

This educational reference has been Digiproved © 2012 Sandra Gompf, MDAll Rights Reserved