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On August 7, 16-year-old Sebastian DeLeon was on vacation with his parents in Florida when he was infected with the brain-eating amoeba, naegleria fowleri. This amoeba is found in warm, freshwater bodies of water and generally kills 97% of its victims in a matter of days.
Sebastian had been swimming in South Florida when he accidentally inhaled the amoeba. Just minutes later, he had developed a severe headache, couldn’t bear any physical contact, and exhibited symptoms of meningitis.
His parents immediately rushed him to the hospital.
There is currently no standard method of treatment to attack naegleria fowleri infections; the disease is generally so rare and fatal that no drug has previously been effective.
With Sebastian, however, the doctors wasted no time in administering a test drug – miltefosine – before putting him in an induced coma to recover.
Barely three weeks later, Sebastian’s blood tested negative for naegleria fowleri. Once the doctors took out his breathing tube, he was already beginning to speak again, and just a few days later, he was walking and ready to return home.
The doctors are amazed at how quickly Sebastian recovered. Sebastian is just one of four people who have survived an infection of naegleria fowleri in the past 50 years, and his rapid return to health gives them hope that they will be able to better treat other naegleria fowleri cases in the future.
“This is a story we need to tell about Sebastian DeLeon,” said Dr. Humberto Liriano, one of the doctors who cared for Sebastian at the hospital.
Sebastian’s parents are just incredibly grateful that their son is still with them: “We just want to say a few words of thank you to God and all his power for all he has done in saving our son's life; for giving us this medical staff.”
Watch a segment of the doctors' medical conference here:
