Photo: D.T. John & T.B. Cole, Visuals Unlimited
The smiling face of the Naegleria fowleri amoeba above belies the havoc it can cause to your brain.
The naturally occuring organism normally feeds on bacteria and live in the mud layer of lakes and ponds, but under certain conditions it can swim around in the water. That's when an accidental encounter with a swimmer can turn deadly:
Under certain conditions, Naegleria fowleri can develop flagella—threadlike structures that enable it to rapidly move around and look for more favorable conditions. When people swim in warm freshwater during the summer, water contaminated with the moving amoeba can be forced up the nose and into the brain.
This causes headache, stiff neck, and vomiting, which progresses to more serious symptoms. Between exposure and onset, infection generally results in a coma and death after around five days.
That's what happened in primary amebic meningoencephalitis (PAM), a rare form of parasitic meningitis that was diagnosed in case of a 12-year-old Arkansas girl who has been hospitalized for over a week after being infected while swimming at Willow Springs Water Park in Little Rock.
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Look at all the MerLOW!
chamBang!
ZinDownFall
NSFC (not safe for children) would be much better in most situations.
Really. Had it been me there EVERY kid in a 5-block radius around that store would have heard me swearing like a drunken sailor arguing with a drunken trucker, mainly because I'd be unhappy about having to clean up such a huge mess!
1) the store cheaped out and either went with compromised used fixtures, or did not use the proper weight rated fixtures
2) the fixture was rated for the correct weight, but was improperly assembled.
3) the fixture was not properly leveled. This takes a little extra effort, but is worth it
4) even if the fixtures were correct and properly installed and levelled, if the other side was completely empty this could happen. Not as likely, but possible.
I'm probably over-thinking it.