Stay out of the damn Minnesota lakes?

[john1928]

A 7 year old girl in Minnesota died from meningitis caused by Naegleria fowleri last week. The article claims that this was the first reported case in a northern state. Oddly, just last week my wife and I had been discussing how happy we were not to need to worry about this bug, alligators, or poisonous snakes when enjoying the local lakes, and rivers (relative to our upcoming FL trip and precautions that would be needed).

I don't see this impacting our hitting the lakes, but if we started to see a series of these (unlikely) it could in the future.

http://www.startribune.com/local/ea...qyP4O:DW3ckUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUsr

 

[JoelD]

Sad, sad, sad occurance here in the Dallas area just last week.

For all those that don't believe Pete, think he is over-reacting or sensationalizing, or have made disparaging comments about his concern over swimming in the lakes because of a brain infecting amoeba that enters through the nose...

Arlington boy is victim of rare bacterial disease

I have a wonderful 6 year old son and a fantastic 2 year old son, and I'm amazed at the poise the father has... I would be a basket case.

My heart and prayers go out to the family.

 

[FireDancer]

Eh, there are risks in life. I hit the lakes in Ohio every summer and will be doing it a lot more in the future as I train to do a triathlon.

Could I die of some brain eating bug? Sure. Am I worried about it? Nope. I am much more likely to die in a car accident on the way to work and I don't avoid driving because of it. Even if 100 people a year died from this amoeba it would be pretty statistically insignificant and not enough to force me out of the lakes up here.

The book Culture of Fear addresses these disparages in what we fear and what will actually kill or harm us. For example, people fear school shootings which have a very low probability more then they fear a crash on the bus which is statistically much more likely. As a result they install medal detectors in the schools instead of installing seat belts on the bus. Another great example is people who drive across the country because they are scared to fly even though the former is much more dangerous then the latter.

Now, the alligators and shakes in FL would keep me out of most of the lakes but the slight chance of getting a brain eating disease...not so much.

Of course YMMV.

 

[jessrose18]

When I heard this story on the news and they said brain eating ameoba (sp?) all I could think of was the "damn lakes" i guess its true.....

 

[DisneyKevin]

Eh, there are risks in life. I hit the lakes in Ohio every summer and will be doing it a lot more in the future as I train to do a triathlon.

Could I die of some brain eating bug? Sure. Am I worried about it? Nope. I am much more likely to die in a car accident on the way to work and I don't avoid driving because of it. Even if 100 people a year died from this amoeba it would be pretty statistically insignificant and not enough to force me out of the lakes up here.

The book Culture of Fear addresses these disparages in what we fear and what will actually kill or harm us. For example, people fear school shootings which have a very low probability more then they fear a crash on the bus which is statistically much more likely. As a result they install medal detectors in the schools instead of installing seat belts on the bus. Another great example is people who drive across the country because they are scared to fly even though the former is much more dangerous then the latter.

Now, the alligators and shakes in FL would keep me out of most of the lakes but the slight chance of getting a brain eating disease...not so much.

Of course YMMV.

Disney is private property and has posted signage stating that swimming is prohibited.

Added to this is the possibility of contracting a deadly bug.

Regardless of what your feelings or fears may be....these two things should keep you and others out of Disney lakes.

 

[FireDancer]

Disney is private property and has posted signage stating that swimming is prohibited.

Added to this is the possibility of contracting a deadly bug.

Regardless of what your feelings or fears may be....these two things should keep you and others out of Disney lakes.

Disney lakes, yes. You are right, private property means they can set their own rules.

Lakes in Minnesota, Texas, or anywhere else where swimming is not prohibited and there might be a slim chance of catching a brain eating bug, no.

 

[DisneyKevin]

Disney lakes, yes. You are right, private property means they can set their own rules.

Lakes in Minnesota, Texas, or anywhere else where swimming is not prohibited and there might be a slim chance of catching a brain eating bug, no.

There are risks associated with most of the things we do in life.

You could choke to death on your Cheerios.

We all make decisions every day on how we want to roll the dice.

Once armed with the knowledge of the possibilities of injury, sickness or death....the decision is yours to make (unless prohibited by law or Disney signage).

One could make the same argument that you've made regarding swimming for crossing the street without looking both ways. The odds are in your favor that the drivers on the road will be vigilant or that your timing will be such that there are no cars in the vicinity.

That being said...the prudent thing to do is look both ways before you cross the road.

If people are armed with the information that there is a possibility that they (or their children) could die from swimming in lakes that might contain deadly amoeba, then they are making the decision to roll the proverbial dice.

Are the odds in your favor....yes, but if you've ever watched a horse race, then you are aware that odds mean nothing if your horse loses.

 

[FireDancer]

There are risks associated with most of the things we do in life.

You could choke to death on your Cheerios.

We all make decisions every day on how we want to roll the dice.

Once armed with the knowledge of the possibilities of injury, sickness or death....the decision is yours to make (unless prohibited by law or Disney signage).

One could make the same argument that you've made regarding swimming for crossing the street without looking both ways. The odds are in your favor that the drivers on the road will be vigilant or that your timing will be such that there are no cars in the vicinity.

That being said...the prudent thing to do is look both ways before you cross the road.

If people are armed with the information that there is a possibility that they (or their children) could die from swimming in lakes that might contain deadly amoeba, then they are making the decision to roll the proverbial dice.

Are the odds in your favor....yes, but if you've ever watched a horse race, then you are aware that odds mean nothing if your horse loses.

That is what I am talking about though. You may choke to death on <insert any food> but people still eat. They don't let that slim chance dissuade them eating non-pureed food.

I don't think not looking both ways when crossing the street is the same as not swimming in a lake. Looking both ways is taking a precaution but you still perform the underlying action (crossing) after doing it. I would say learning to swim is like looking both ways. It makes the underlying action (swimming or crossing the street) safer but doesn't stop you from doing that action out of fear after that precaution is taken.

If the odds of dying from this amoeba make someone so frightened of it they stay out of their local lake that is their prerogative of course but I would wonder what things they do in the day to day life that are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more dangerous yet they never give a second though about.

Just my opinion of course. To each their own.

 

[JoelD]

I definitley agree with everyone. It is all a matter of risk level and which risks you personally want to take.

What also comes into play is what alternatives are available, and is one alternative worth its higher risk versus other alternatives with lower risk. For example, I do chose to drive a car - which is exponentially riskier than the risk of swimming in lakes. But in my case my alternatives to driving a car are very limited and very impractical. Whereas my alternatives to swimming in lakes are very numerous and very practical - particularly when at WDW.

Will a never swim in a lake? Well, if I want to go skiing I don't have an alternative. So yes, I have and I will swim in a lake on occassion. Will I swim in a lake if I have the alternative of swimming in a well maintained pool? Probably not.

Also, armed with the knowledge that the potential for these amoebas is greatest when the waters are very warm and slow moving or stagnant, I can chose when and where I swim in natural water to even further reduce the already low risk.


Sorry to start (or re-start) a debate on risk taking in daily life. I mainly just posted the news segment so that people who have been skeptical can see that the amoeba that Pete warns about is real and as formidable as he has discussed so that, as Kevin says, they can be "armed with the knowledge of the possibilities [however rare] of injury, sickness or death".