An Amoeba kills a kid after wakeboarding at OWC

This is terrible its the second kid. They say its rare but it sure makes you think. The report says he got it after riding at OWC.
http://www.orlandosentinel.com/features/health/orl-amoebadeath0607sep06,0,5613379.story?coll=orl_tab0 1_layout

(Message edited by woreout on September 06, 2007)

ouch.

Horrible tragedy...I smell potential lawsuit.

Wow this is quite frightening. There have been other cases across the country, too.

Lawsuit? It's a freaking Amoeba. How are you gonna stop that?

Bet that attendance goes down. That is just terrible, I could not even imagine having to deal with that. My thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of Chino. Rest in Peace little man.

So now you have to wear a noseclip to ride? Hopefully they dig a well and fill the place with clean water.

They're handing out nose clips? !!!

Let's face it, water is going to find it's way into every orifice in your body at some point wakeboarding.

ya...nose clips!

How abot shutting down until further testing proves a safe environment?

Living here in FL for all my life, it's just one of those thing that happen when the lakes warm up and we dont get a lot of rain. All lakes have them, either sit it out until winter or go ride...

http://www.orlandowatersports.com/downloads/water_analysis1.pdf

Thats so sad.

That's one of the good things about living in boring New England - no amoeba's and no alligators either.

On a funny note: At first I thought that thread about "peeing your pants" was gross, but perhaps those guys are on to something. It would be funny if pee could actually kill the virus. I can see it now: "Human urine kills off deadly amoeba. Officials urge more people to pee in lakes"

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Ya take your chances and sh*t sometimes happens. I've been skiing regularly since the 70's and the amoeba have been around the whole time. Tragic but not controllable.

BTW, I was just out there last Sunday with my wife. This is the first I'd heard about the OWC incident. I gave my wife a ride around the big cable. She sat in my lap and put her feet on the board between the boot's on takeoff. 280 lbs between us (me 165, her 115). After two laps my arms were telling me what it feels like to be a 280lb man wakeboarding.

I hope this isn't an epidemic! Two cases so close together seems a bit rare.

(Message edited by fly135 on September 06, 2007)

To my understanding ANY fresh water lake that gets above 84 is subject to them. Not just Florida

I hate Texas lakes in the summer. There's nothing dirtier than the feel of a 90 degree public waterway. I'd imagine it's pretty much a parasite's utopia.

This sucks because I just bought my 6 month pass for owc.. I wonder if they can put it on hold for a little bit till it cools down... does anyone know if you can get tested for amoebas or treatment or anything or just take your chances?

Andy, I don't think anyone is going to come out and say 'Go for it' in this day of legalized stealing (read: lawsuits). However, if it was me, I've heard that the amoeba typically affects the young and the old, not the thriving 19 year old.

yea ive noticed that the two kids that died here recently were young.. Ive just never heard of amoebas before because I just moved down here

Andy, did you get the 2 extra months with your pass. I noticed that they are offering 8 months for a 6 month pass during Sept.

damn--pretty crazy..never heard of the amoeba in ohio..pretty crazy..

That story is so sad. I also feel for OWC. It is such a cool place. I hope that they don't have to deal with some ambulance chasing attorney's over this or lose business.

I feel for the kid's family. I'm just concerned about OWC. Didn't mean to sound heartless.

Amoeba's have been around alot longer than humans! Its a single cell organism, and they will be around alot longer than us also.

My condolences for the family and friends.

I remember kids dieing from this when I was a kid, they jumped into local canals that were warm and stagnant. We've always known about amoebas in warm fresh water, I think brackish too. Guess these people weren't locals or didn't know the risk, sounds like a good idea to put some signs up. This is why fresh water has always given me the willies.

It's just something you either accept and live with, or you don't. Tragic for the families involved but the risk is everywhere and not just in Florida. OWC can't protect their lakes from the amoeba unless they turned it into one enormous chlorinated swimming pool.

Do some research on Naegleria Fowleri and you'll learn more about this amoeba. Personally i think the odds of a car wreck are much more likely.

On the news yesterday they said that "he had been swimming in several different lakes the last week, including OWC".

that's very sad. seems like there's been a lot of bad wakeboarding news this summer, but for the most part i think sometimes bad things just happen for no reason. RIP

(Message edited by kylielogan on September 07, 2007)

dang man that is scary if my foot is unborken then i will be going to OWC and the expo this weekend now you have me scared

Orange county (big chunk of Orlando area is Orange county)is stepping up to warn people about the risks due to warm water temps. I have kids in the school system so we get automated phone messages about school events, etc. Tonight they did a mass phone message to all county school parents alerting people to the risk and encouraging everyone to keep their kids out of lakes, etc. Obviously they see more potential for similar situations

I think it's ironic that both kids that died of this in the 30 days were wakeboarding. If these kids were frolicking on the beach or swimming in stagnant ponds it would be one thing and I wouldn't worry. But these kids were wakeboarding. It's scared me enough to stay out of the water for a short while. At least until the water cools down a little.

im pretty sure a couple people died at lake lbj from this in the past month

This is from the CDC website. It is only part of it so you can visit the site for mor info.

at is Naegleria?

Naegleria is a free-living ameba commonly found in the environment in water and soil. Only one species of Naegleria has been found to infect humans, Naegleria fowleri.



Where is Naegleria found?

Naegleria fowleri is found worldwide. Most commonly, the ameba is found in:

Warm bodies of fresh water, such as lakes, rivers
Geothermal water such as hot springs
Warm water discharge from industrial plants
Minimally chlorinated swimming pools
Soil


How common is Naegleria infection?

Although Naegleria is commonly found in the environment, infection occurs rarely. Only 23 infections were documented in the U.S. between 1995 and 2004.



When is Naegleria most common?

Infection with Naegleria is most common during the dry, summer months, when the air temperature is above 80° F, the water is warm, and water levels are low. The number of infections increase during years characterized by heat waves.



How does infection with Naegleria occur?

Infection with Naegleria occurs when the ameba enters the body through the nose. Generally this occurs when people are participating in water-related activities such as swimming underwater, diving, or other water sports that result in water going up the nose. The ameba then travels to the brain and spinal cord where it destroys the brain tissue.

Some statistics to add to Davids info -
From 1990 to 2003 there were 30 cases countrywide. 7 in FL 14 in TX - 3 in NC - rest (6) were CA OK GA Guam -- That's over a 14 year period.
40% happened in Aug 30% in Jul and 13% in Sept.
Highest years were 1995 and 1991 (6 each)

To put this in prespective - In 2003 2.4 million people died of all causes in the US - of that total - in the 5-24 age group there were 40,000 deaths. In that same year there was one death from this ameoba.

This is not something new. I talked to someone yesterday who told me he remembered hearing about it several times since the 50's.

So does that mean it's not a concern? Absolutely not - caution is always good - but let's keep it in prespective.

My mom told me when her and brothers were little kids (they all were born and raised in Orlando on Lake Jessamine where the first person died) that my grandfather would tell them not to dive and swim around when the water was so warm. My mom passed that down to us when we were kids. I am willing to bet it didn't happen from just wakeboarding. They were probably swimming around in other lakes prior to OWC. It's nothing new, when summer comes around it's just something we all think about and stay away from shallow waters that are stagnant.

is anyone going to be riding at owc anytime soon? because im suppossed to be riding their this weekend but idk if i should now. but im also going to the expo

Mel
I think you're absolutely right. With a 10 day or more incubation period - unless you were only in the water once during that time, it's hard to know where it came from.

Unfortunate incident. I'll be in Orlando this week and riding at Odub regardless.

Austin just moved into Josh Sander's old house on Lake Jessamine so I have been reading up on this. The warm water, low water levels and time of year make this the most prone time. Plus I read that algae forms pond scum so stay away from that. What I can't figure out is that is resides in the upper layers of the mud and silt so how would it be present in the middle of a deep lake? I can see where shallow water would be a problem because you roil up the silt and mud. But wakeboarding is in deep water and away from the shore.

As Lloyd said earlier, the mathematical and statistical reality is this is a non-event. And it is not limited to FL. Any lake that is above 80 degrees is subject to it and that encompasses a lot of lakes. I would stay away from the shore or shallow water and be prudent. I personally would wear nose plugs but I can't see that happening for most people.

By the way, in my research I found that the USA has more lake surface than any other country. An unimportant and trivial fact unless you board or ski.

"is anyone going to be riding at owc anytime soon? "

I rode there last weekend and expect to be out there this coming weekend.

This is a sad thing but I have to say it seems appropriate, to me, for someone from ca to bring up lawsuit?? Maybe its just me but for that to be the first thing someone thinks, since I'm the only one who mentioned it?? Is this really where our society is heading?
Thank you Lloyd (AKA Shauns dad)for setting us straight on the facts. I'd still much rather deal with floridas quirks then mud slides, earth quakes, billion acre fires, not to mention the crazy C.O.L.

I rode on Thursday and I believe I am amoeba free!

DAve, there is a 10 day incubation period. We'll check back with you a week from this Sunday...

Treatment of Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM)
Of the 300 or so cases of this disease world-wide, only seven or so have been survived (Jain et al, 2002). The drug of choice has been amphotericin B (Anderson & Jamieson, 1972;Seidel et al, 1982;Jain et al, 2002 ) it is usually given intravenously at 1mg/kg/day (see Shenoy et al, 2002). In the cases where patients have survived early diagnosis has been crucial. Symptoms are generally like bacterial meningitis but with no bacteria in the cerebrospinal fluid, the presence of amoebae can however be detected by observation of the CSF under a microscope. The incubation period is usually between 3 and 8 days and the patient usually dies 7-10 days after infection (Butt, 1966; Anderson & Jamieson, 1972; Barnett et al, 1996).

he didnt get the amoeba from owc, he got it from Orange lake,where ever the heck that is and OWC was tested for algae and amoeba and they didnt find any in the lake,and plus im at owc all day everyday and im still alive...

Anna- sorry but there is no true way of knowing where the amoeba came from. Only way of telling is to test EVERY single ounce of water in the lake. Although it is unlikely that it came from OWC no way to tell for sure.

well i saw in the news paper and it said kid gets amoeba from orange lake or something like that

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/orange/orl-mcfbriefs20_3sep20,0,4597017.story

Family sues OWC over death of kid

That is a bummer for OWC but it's not all that surprising. It'll be interesting to see how well their liability waiver holds up, especially since waivers aren't generally favored by law.

Sue happy people suck What ever happened to personal responsibility?

This is absolute bulsh*t. By living in FL and letting your son go in the water, you assume the risk of contracting an amoeba...WAY MORE THAT YOUR SON GETTING ATTACKED BY A GATOR. When living in FL, this type of thing happens, rare...yes...but regardless, I rode today completely assuming the responsibilities. The odds of contracting amoebic meningoencephilitis is way worse than letting your kid ride in the LIGHTNING CAPITAL OF THE WORLD...i'm sorry for the family and i'm sorry for your loss, but it is not the fault of OWC

I agree. OWC is not to blame. I understand the family is hurting, but lashing out at a business like OWC is mis directed and obviously a stunt by local Orlando lawyers. I heard the lawyer talking about it on the news yesterday and felt like dragging him out of the tv set and beating the •••••••• of him. I hope they lose their lawsuit and he never gets any more cases. Just venting here...

Health officials have said testing does not prove that any particular body of water is totally free of the amoebas.



How can they prove this was contracted @ OWC then? Will this suit hold up in court? Also it will likely cost OWC more than the 15k to fight this. Maybe that is the thinking behind this low number. Sorry for the loss but this is the problem with our country anyone can sue for anything.

OWC will argue that the kid and his parent signed a liability release form which in theory shifts the responsibility of personal injury from OWC to whoever signed the form. However, most states don't enforce these waivers if the business is found to be grossly negligent in their operation.

Personally, everyone in Central Florida area knew about the risk of amoebas well before this happened so I really don't see OWC as responsible. It was a tragic accident that really didn't result from OWC being negligent in their policies. They checked their water and tried to make sure things were safe. It sure seems like they took the necessary precautions and Scott, I definitely agree with you about personal responsibility and how it seems to have disappeared.

Read the comments related to the article. Supposedly a family member wrote on it, or another website and it was pasted. They are trying to "educate" and inform the public of the risk and presence of the amoeba. Were they not aware after the other child became ill earlier in the summer? What about the death two years ago? This is very sad. He most likely didn't contract it at the waterpark, however that is the only body of water they can "educate" people on having amoeba. I hope OWC can make it through this.

I'm a FL native and the lawsuits are frightning here. Firstly everyone who grew up here knows about the amoebas, they've been around forever. If someone stubs their toe they'll sue everyone in the room. I wish the @#&^%! judges and juries would start tossing these things out of court. There's almost nothing left to do here because the law suits keep anything fun away for fear of the owners being sued. I feel for the family, but I hope this one gets laughed out of court.

Unfortunately OWC may have to defend themselves to protect from other lawsuits that may arise. You can't do anything that may be construed as admitting guilt. Settling would be a whole lot cheaper. Attorneys will use up 15k in no time.

OWC's insurance company will probably handle the case. I agree Matt, it should be throw out of court. Too bad the litigating attorney can't be made to pay damages. That would cut down on the BS lawsuits.

I find it surprising with all the people who have spent time at OWC this summer, this kid was the only one who ended up with the ameoba?If he spent time in the "beach" area, I pretty sure he hasn't been the only one. Rene usually lets his kids play at the waters edge and I haven't heard of his kids getting this ameoba.
I hope OWC will get out of this without having to pay something, but the juries will feel for the family and make OWC pay.
His insurance company is pretty thorough, I know of a lawsuit in the past and they did a very indepth investigation on the plaintiff which resulted in no payout.
The only thing this lawsuit will do is increase the cost of the cables.

(Message edited by phantom5815 on September 22, 2007)

I know of an older guy who swam in a lake here in Southeastern WI every morning and he had an amoeba enter his brain through a perforated eardrum. He was around 80 years old and it completely whacked him out for a while. I took an infectious disease specialist and the CDC a week to figure out what was causing his mental status changes. He was successfully treated with meds.