US Southeastern states: Rapid onset fatal neurological illness in woman and boy, (no contact known and in separate states) following fever resolution

[Emily]

Atlanta mom of 2 dies of mysterious illness after day at pool Published August 03, 2015 FoxNews.com



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Stephanie Ballard woke up in mid-July the next morning with nausea, chills and a headache, MyFoxAtlanta.com reported. Shortly afterward, she began losing muscle control and fell, her husband, Pete Ballard, told the news station.
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Pete rushed Stephanie to Piedmont Hospital, in Atlanta, where tests revealed swelling in Stephanie?s brain, but doctors did not identify the illness causing it. They ruled out stroke and aneurysm.
"Her immune system is confused and actually attacking her brain, confusing it for a virus or some other kind of thing that needs to be fought," Pete told MyFoxAtlanta.com.
The right side of Stephanie?s body became paralyzed for about eight days. Steroids and physical therapy eased the paralysis, but then her left side also became paralyzed.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2015/0...r-day-at-pool/

More details from the family:

On July 15th after a day at the pool with her two little girls (Riley-6 and Reese-4) she started coming down with what we thought was a summer flu, but while her fever went away the next morning, she started having aches, dizziness, nausea, and then started losing her balance and muscle control. This hit fast.

http://www.gofundme.com/HelpStef

Nederland child battling mystery illness
Posted: Jul 30, 2015 10:15 AM PST

Strother said Brody was a perfectly healthy boy when they found out he had a fever last Wednesday. His fever broke the next day, but that same day, he began having seizures.
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She also said doctors have told them they don?t know if the seizures are viral or autoimmune.

http://www.12newsnow.com/story/29671...ystery-illness

Nederland location:
https://goo.gl/maps/KgkZs

Atlanta is far away, but they are dealing with a parasite outbreak there:
http://www.11alive.com/story/news/lo...head/30176557/

The severe brain illnesses hit very fast to be autoimmune, though maybe it happens that quickly in some cases. The fact that the fevers resolved prior to the neurological symptoms must be why they suspect that, but I'm wondering if some OTC fever reducer could be interacting badly with a new infection(s). (And certainly these cases could be entirely unrelated.)

 

[Emily]

Tragically, little Brody Strother has also passed away:
http://www.12newsnow.com/story/29687338/services-set-for-brody-strother

I just noticed that his grandparent recently posted this to the Fox News article about Stephanie Ballard's tragic outcome:

ystrother 2 hours ago My grandson died last Friday after getting out of the swimming pool,he went into seizuers and never stopped having them for over a week.He was at the best hospital in Texas and they couldn't save him nor can they tell us what was wrong.

So while the two cases could be completely unrelated, I do hope CDC looks into this.

 

[Emily]

Nederland boy who battled a mystery illness laid to rest in Vidor

Posted: August 5, 2015
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Wednesday, August 5, 2015 7:51 PM EDT
Doctor's still don't know what caused the seizures. His parents are waiting for his autopsy results, which should be available in about two weeks.

http://www.12newsnow.com/story/29720...-rest-in-vidor