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FRIDAY, Sept. 11, 2020 (HealthDay News) — The parents of a 13-year-old boy in Florida who died from brain-eating amoeba want to warn others about the risk of the waterborne infection.<\/p>\n
Tanner Lake Wall, 13, became ill after a family vacation last month at a North Florida campground that has a lake and water park. He was hospitalized and put on a ventilator, but taken off life support on Aug. 2 after he showed no brain activity, CBS News<\/i> reported. The teen’s parents hope their tragedy alerts other families to the dangers of this amoeba, called Naegleria fowleri<\/i>.<\/p>\n
“So parents are aware, maybe they weren’t thinking about it because I can sure tell you we weren’t,” the teen’s father, Travis Wall, said, CBS News<\/i> reported. “We grew up swimming in ponds and creeks and stuff like that.”<\/p>\n
Typically found in warm fresh water, such as lakes, rivers, and springs, Naegleria fowleri<\/i> can get into the brain when contaminated water enters the nose, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.<\/p>\n