Who is Caleb Ziegelbauer? Florida teen battles for life after being infected by 'brain-eating amoeba'
After picking up a 'brain-eating' infection on a beach excursion, a Florida teen is now battling for his life. According to NBC, Caleb Ziegelbauer, 13, has spent over two weeks in the intensive care unit at the Golisano Children's Hospital of Southwest Florida in Fort Myers. The brain-eating bacteria, also known as Naegleria Fowleri, is thought to have been transmitted to Caleb when he and his family visited the beaches in Port Charlotte on July 1, 2022. Caleb didn't start showing symptoms until several days later. His family members posted on Facebook last week that he volunteered at the neighborhood library on July 6 and had a headache when he got home.
The athletic teen started feeling tired the following day and developed a high fever along with neck ache. Due to the mysterious swelling in his brain, Caleb was initially diagnosed with meningitis after being brought to the emergency room where his symptoms continued to worsen. Caleb was subsequently diagnosed with the hazardous bacteria infection, which only has a 25 per cent chance of survival after doctors were able to connect the brain swelling to his trip to the beach days before. The future is uncertain for Caleb, who is characterized by his family as a bright, good-natured, compassionate, and loving youngster, despite the fact that he has made some improvement and is now breathing on his own.
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Katie Chiet, Caleb’s aunt, told NBC, “It’s very lonely and isolating to walk this path because we don’t know where we are on any kind of timeline. It’s day 17 and Caleb is still breathing on his own. Are we in the clear? Are we on the path to healing? Are we waiting for something else to happen?”
More than $40,000 has been received through a GoFundMe set up by Chiet to pay for Caleb's medical bills. Caleb is going in and out of consciousness, but his family is certain that he will make a full recovery even though he still has many challenges ahead.
Elizabeth Ziegelbaur told NBC about her nephew, “He’s just the kindest soul but he’s so strong. He’s so strong. Like the fighting on the outside, that’s what we’re doing. He is fighting his little heart out on the inside.” Meanwhile, Chiet also said, “A lot of times people don’t get to the hospital quickly enough. We’re hoping that we did.”
After brief intubation, Caleb is now receiving respiratory therapy and sedation to allow the brain to rest as part of the CDC protocol for treating Naegleria Fowleri. The CDC states that the deadly bacteria are found in warm fresh water and soil and that as the temperature rises in the summer, so does the risk of contracting the disease. On average, only three people in the US contract the bacteria per year, however, the infection is frequently fatal. It can be avoided by wearing nose plugs and swimming in non-chlorinated water.