Toddler's tragic death from brain-destroying amoeba offers lessons for doctors
摘要
一名华盛顿州幼儿因感染一种极罕见且破坏大脑的变形虫而不幸去世。该病原体1986年首次在圣地亚哥动物园一只猴子的脑中被发现，全球仅约200例人类感染报告，致死率约90%。初期症状模糊，极易漏诊或误诊。该患儿起初出现呕吐、嗜睡、右侧无力，后发展为头痛、发热和吞咽困难，病情迅速恶化。由于该病例的感染表现与现有医学文献中的典型特征不同，导致医生判断方向错误。这一案例
A healthy toddler in Washington state fell ill abruptly. It began with vomiting, lethargy, and weakness on his right side. Then it progressed to a headache, fever, and trouble swallowing. At one point, he briefly became unresponsive, and he had episodes where he stopped breathing. Doctors admitted him to the hospital, but his condition only deteriorated.
The boy was infected with an ultra-rare amoeba known for ravaging the brain. The opportunistic pathogen was first identified in 1986 from the brain of a San Diego Zoo monkey, which died from the infection. Since then, only about 200 human cases have been recorded worldwide. About 90 percent of them have been fatal.
The initial symptoms can be vague and, given its rarity, the infection is notorious for being undiagnosed or misdiagnosed. Still, the scant medical literature does provide some telltale signs, clues of what it can look like on tests and scans. But for the toddler, the infection looked different, sending doctors down the wrong path.
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