amoebic meningoencephalitis

[cavedivingwoman]

Spring are too cold, Sinks are not. The lake at Eagles Nest is also a potential concern. As stated in Martin Farr's Book it has been speculated to be a possible cause of Martz's strange behavior just prior to his disappearance in the Bahamas. Martz was known to deco without his mask on.

This also is referenced in the paperback "Caverns Measureless," p 104.

[JE]

Numerous times during dives in the Orange Grove, I've noticed some significent water qualitiy thruout what appeared to be a thermocline. I often wondered if the hot summers we experiance here result in contaminated pools of our spring heads. I avoid diving & swimming in lakes, & quiet springs because of this. Again, it remains common sense when cases of this ameoba are reported. Use caution & if the water looks tainted, wait for cooler weather to set in & drop the water temps as well. The caves are not going to disappear anytime soon, & your health & life are much more important. The higher flow systems like Little River & Madison are good examples of safe diving environments. Orange Grove, Convict, Royal Spgs, Eagles Nest, P II & PIII are not during hot summer months.
Just an opinion. Wear a hood, keep your mask on & reg in you mouth if you decide to dive tainted waters.

[JCGoodwin]

The hood and mask options help a great deal even up hear in coldwater land there are some seriously scary stuff in the first 10'-15' in the warm summer months.
I get killer ear infections if I do not wear a hood in FL, or the north.
If I clean or rinse my ears often I get them even worse, it is a real pain.
As with everything you learn to dive around it.
The ameba things freaks me out a bit but not enough to slow my diving, you have to die sometime from something right?

JCG

[skip]

ear infections are rarely due to critters in the water. the dry air (ac in motel/car/truck), the effort in diving, etc., all help to reduce immune systems, increase chance of inflammation, etc. The water dries out the ear canal and removes ear wax. This is main culprit in external ear infections. Dry ear canals = small cracking of dry skin, which then provides a foothold for bacterial growth (the natural bacteria we all carry in our ears). Then a redunking to add water again, provides a moisture-enriched environment. Rinsing ears or cleaning them only makes it worse. However, distilled white vinegar and alcohol (50/50), kills the bacteria (alcohol) and alters pH such that bacteria can not grow/reproduce (the vinegar). A buddy swears by apple cider vinegar, but I wouldn't use it. Middle ear infections are totally different, although untreated external ear infections can spread to the other side of the tympanic membrane.

Nonetheless, it is a myth that stuff in the water is the cause of ear infections.

skip

[curtschu]

Sad news last night. The young lady that was the original subject of this thread died. Please take care of your children in these dog days of summer. Find a nice cool spring or Clean pool to swin.

[graepaep]

I read up a little on this back in 2009. A kid in AZ caught this (we were in AZ at the time and it was big news due to the lakes) and died from it. It happens more in kids than adults. It is believed that the kids jumping around in the warm, shallow and muddy water stirs up the critters. Then when a kid jumps in and water shoots up his/her nose the critter will latch onto the olfactory nerve (if i remember correctly) then make its way to the brain.

For the kid in AZ it started with a head ache that wouldn't go away and slowly got worse. It was heart breaking to read about.

[gschaut]

Alcohol is a very powerful antiseptic agent.

I'm sure if you introduced enough into your brain, it would protect your spinal fluid from amoebic infections.

But wait until AFTER your dive to "disinfect" your brain.

[Danseur]

Unbelievably this is what killed my 14 yr old cousin last year in LA. Water ski-ing in the river, came home, headache that kept coming, 3 days later he was gone. Just freaky and horrible.

[Sludge]

last year in LA. Water skiing in the river

Serious question: Los Angeles or Lower Alabama?

[Danseur]

Sorry, Louisiana.