Cause of death was listed as bacterial necrotizing myositis – infection of …

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  • Tevita Alatini, 7, died while vacationing with family at Camp Pendleton, San Diego
  • Cause of death was listed as bacterial necrotizing myositis – infection of muscle tissue
  • Medical examiner said a malfunction of the immune system contributed to the condition
  • Boy’s uncle said Tevita did not swim in a lake during the trip

By
Rachel Quigley and Snejana Farberov


PUBLISHED:

13:07 GMT, 30 August 2012


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UPDATED:

13:25 GMT, 30 August 2012

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A seven-year-old boy from Texas who developed a rash
under his arm during a July trip to San Diego, California, died after
contracting a flesh-eating bacterial infection, the Medical Examiner’s Office
announced on Thursday

Tevita Alatini’s official cause of death
was listed as bacterial necrotizing myositis, which means that infection spread
into muscle tissue.

Officials listed autoimmune hemolytic
anemia – a malfunction of the immune system – as a contributing condition.

Infection: Tevita Alatini died while from a flesh-eating bacteria that he contracted while on a camping trip with his family in San Diego

Tragic death: Tevita, seven, pictured with his baby sister, was said to have been throwing up before a red rash developed under his armpit

Alatini passed away on July 10 at Rady
Children’s Hospital, three days after arriving in San Diego with his family
from Spring, Texas, for a family reunion, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

Shortly after the boy’s death, his uncle Sione
Niko told the North County Times that the family had traveled to Lake O’Neill
Recreational Park on the Camp Pendleton Marine Corps base on July 9 when his nephew
fell ill and developed a rash.

Helen Niko, one of Tevita’s aunts, told San Diego’s 10News.com: ‘He was happy and climbing light poles and running around and having a good time just like any other seven-year-old would.

‘At first we thought it was nothing to worry about as he was born with a weak immune system but then the rash came.’

Flesh-eating infections are often contracted while
swimming in a lake or pond, and the boy’s parents told the press in July that their son ventured into the water during the camping trip.

However, Niko insisted that his nephew did not even go near
the lake.

‘He was sitting down and just hanging out with everybody, just having family time. Then he
was complaining about a pain on his side, and it started off just like a
little rash, and then it just became bigger,’ Niko said.

Mystery: The boy’s parents initially said their seven-year-old son went swimming in a lake at Camp Pendleton, but his uncle claimed Tevita did not go near the water  

Heartbroken: Tevita was vacationing with his parents, older sister and brother and baby sister when he feel sick and was rushed to the ER

DANGERS OF SWIMMING IN LAKES

Swimming in lakes always carries certain risk because of the bacteria hazards associated with it.

A variety of microorganisms are naturally present in soil and water in the environment. Bacteria is just one of these.

While they can be beneficial, they can also pose a serious and potentially fatal hazard to those who swim in ponds and lakes.

Bacteria have several routes of
infection. They can be swallowed, you can breathe them in, or they can
come in contact with an open wound.

One drop of untreated water can
contain millions of bacteria. It is possible to develop skin infections,
ear infections, eye infections, diarrhea, and respiratory infections
from contaminated lake water.

One of these bacteria are known as Primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM). It is a rare and usually deadly disease caused by infection with the amoeba Naegleria fowleri.

Naegleria thrives in warm, stagnant bodies of fresh water when temperatures are above 80 degrees. Consequently, cases of the disease usually occur from June through September.

 Source: Yahoo

‘He was just laying there not feeling
well, and he was throwing up again, and he just became real sick. He wasn’t really responding to his mother, so that’s when
they decided that he needed to go straight to the ER.’

The autopsy conducted on the seven-year-old’s body did
not address how the boy might have developed the rare disease.

Tevita’s parents noticed a large red spot
under his left arm after their lake outing and took their son to the base
hospital, where doctors recognized the signs of a severe infection and had the
child airlifted to Rady Children’s Hospital.

The boy went into medical arrest shortly
after arriving at the hospital and was pronounced dead early the next morning.

The day after he died, the family held a memorial for the seven-year-old at the beach at Camp Pendleton.

The bacteria that led to Tevita’s death is
known to release toxins which destroy tissue, thus earning it the term ‘flesh-eating.’

According to the National Necrotizing
Fasciitis Foundation, it can be caused by various types of germs which usually
enter the body through a wound in the skin, sometimes as small as a paper cut. They can also be swallowed or inhaled. 

One drop of untreated water can contain
millions of bacteria. It is possible to develop skin infections, ear
infections, eye infections, diarrhea, and respiratory infections from
contaminated lake water.

If caught early, the rapidly progressing
disease can be stopped with the use of antibiotics, according to the foundation.

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