Woman left numb by meningitis treatment

A Waikato mother is numb from the pelvis down after treatment for a disease she probably did not have.

Suffering from severe headaches, Mary van Huysen was taken to Waikato Hospital's emergency department on July 21 with suspected amoebic meningitis.

The Matamata mother had swum at Opal Hot Springs and a spa pool at Matamata Sports Centre only a few days before.

Waikato Hospital clinical microbiologist Dr Ron Leng said emergency doctors saw what seemed to be classic signs of amoebae in a sample of spinal fluid.

"Most patients slip within a matter of days to a week into a coma and then they just die," Dr Leng said. "Early treatment is critical."

Doctors immediately injected an antibiotic, amphotericin B, into Ms van Huysen's spine.

But Dr Leng could not find naegleria fowleri in a sample of spinal fluid he tested. The amoeba is associated with most cases of meningoencephalitis. The initial findings are unable to be confirmed, but Ms van Huysen now walks with crutches and was told the numbness was likely to be permanent.

Dr Leng said he wished medical science could solve the mystery of Ms van Huysen's condition.

- NZPA