A five-year-old girl in China has fallen into a coma after contracting a rare “brain-eating amoeba” infection, which she likely acquired following visits to swimming pools and hot springs.
The child remains in critical condition at an intensive care unit.
Swimming Trips Lead to Deadly Infection
The girl’s parent posted a plea for help on social media, sharing the timeline of events. The family visited swimming pools and hot springs on 7 Jun and 14 Jun 2025.
Symptoms appeared on 22 Jun 2025, when the child developed headaches, a low-grade fever, and vomiting. The next day, she was admitted to the hospital after experiencing seizures.
She then lost consciousness and was transferred to the intensive care unit.
Medical tests on 27 Jun 2025 confirmed the presence of Naegleria fowleri, commonly known as “brain-eating amoeba”.
Her condition remains extremely critical.
The Deadly Microorganism Behind the Infection
Wang Xinyu (name transliterated from Mandarin), deputy director of the Infectious Diseases Department at Huashan Hospital affiliated with Fudan University, explained that the “brain-eating amoeba” is not actually a worm.
Instead, it is a single-celled microorganism known as a free-living amoeba.
Three species are particularly notorious. Naegleria fowleri can enter through the nasal cavity and travel along olfactory nerves directly into the brain, causing acute amoebic meningoencephalitis.
The other two dangerous species are Balamuthia mandrillaris and Acanthamoeba. Balamuthia typically enters the body through small skin wounds or by inhaling dust. Acanthamoeba most commonly causes contact lens–related keratitis but can occasionally invade the brain.
Extremely High Fatality Rate
Medical data shows that Naegleria fowleri infections carry a mortality rate of 98%. The amoeba reaches the brain through olfactory nerves, essentially bypassing the body’s immune system checkpoints.
This leaves minimal time for immune responses.
The organism reproduces at an alarming rate once inside the central nervous system. The warm, nutrient-rich brain environment allows it to divide every few hours, rapidly destroying surrounding tissue.
Wang noted that brain-eating amoeba infections are rare events in China with extremely low infection probability. Children and teenagers make up the majority of cases.
Once the organism enters the brain, the mortality rate is extremely high, and patients typically deteriorate rapidly within one week of symptom onset.
Early symptoms resemble ordinary meningitis – high fever, severe headaches, vomiting, and neck stiffness. These symptoms are easily mistaken for bacterial or viral infections. By the time the correct diagnosis is made, the optimal treatment window has often passed.
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