LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Valley doctors are on high alert over a mysterious outbreak of brain infections being diagnosed in children.
Doctors say early symptoms of the rare infection "Brain Abscesses" start out like the flu, but over time the illness progressively gets worse. According to health officials, cases among children in Las Vegas have almost tripled since March.
“I have three kids between 7 and 9 years old. It’s actually very concerning because I haven’t heard of this before,” said Las Vegas resident, Raven Jones.
Doctors say Brain Abscesses are not an airborne infection, but spreads as a secondary serious infection caused by bacteria. Health officials say it's unclear why they're seeing more cases among children in southern Nevada.
In Clark County, most cases were seen in boys around the age of 12. The health district says they don't see a connection linking the infection to COVID-19.
“It kind of scary because I have a 12-year-old granddaughter and I don’t know anything about it or what it is,” said Las Vegas resident, Maria Siniscalchi.
Pediatric Neurosurgeon Dr. Taryn Bragg with Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital warns parents and local pediatricians to pay close attention to a child's symptoms when they present with a fever.
“This is not something that you're going pick up sitting next to someone or that your child picks up in school or on the school bus," said Dr. Bragg. "The infection that we were seeing are related to a secondary infection and from a primary location, so they had sinus infections, ear infections that then traveled through the bone locally that then infected the brain.”
The Southern Nevada Health District says out of 14 patients who received treatment all have fully recovered. The health district wants to remind the public that this brain infection is a rare condition and they'll continue to watch the situation closely.
