A 4-year-old girl unable to formulate words or walk as of Thursday morning is receiving treatment at Our Children’s House Dallas after being infected with a germ not normally found in the continental United States.
Weeks after falling ill with a stomach virus in May, Lylah Baker of Bells, Texas, was diagnosed with a disease called melioidosis and has received treatment in Plano, Denison, and Children’s Medical Center Dallas. Ashley Kennon, Baker’s aunt, said Baker spent about a month in the Dallas Children’s intensive care unit, was on a ventilator for weeks and suffered brain damage as a result of inflammation.
“She was a healthy, typical little girl about to start pre-K in the fall — no underlying health issues previously. I mean just nothing,” said Kennon, who’s a nurse. “So it was definitely a major surprise to everybody not knowing where it came from.”
Despite not traveling recently outside of the United States, Baker and two other U.S. residents were diagnosed in recent months with infections from Burkholderia pseudomallei, a bacterium that typically sickens about a dozen people nationwide each year — mainly those who were recently abroad in regions including Southeast Asia and northern Australia. Out of the three recent cases, one adult has died.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention stated in a June health advisory that it’s working with state health agencies to try to figure out what may have caused the cases, which were identified in March and May in Kansas, Minnesota and Texas.
In the third case, another adult was at some point discharged to a transitional care unit. The patients experienced a wide range of symptoms, including cough, fatigue, nausea and rashing.
Dustin Baker, Lylah’s father, said he and his wife, Josy James, have received support from Texans during their daughter’s treatments, including firefighters at Denison Fire Rescue, where he works.
“There’s really no words,” he said. “Me and Josy have cried at just some of the thoughts and prayers and donations we’ve received from people.”
Chris Van Deusen, spokesperson for the Texas Department of State Health Services, said the investigation will guide state and federal health agencies on whether the public needs to take steps as a result of these rare U.S. cases.
“That’s why we are being so aggressive in trying to identify what the source is, so that we can provide any possible precautions to the public,” he said.
Last year, the CDC released a study about a 63-year-old man from Atascosa County, south of San Antonio, who was infected with the germ without traveling outside of the United States in the years leading up to his illness. The Texas health department and CDC didn’t find what caused the infection.
In places where the germ is most common, contaminated soil and water can put people at risk of infection. People are rarely infected by contact with other people.
The CDC advisory states that the three cases under investigation “may share a potential common source of exposure.”
Van Deusen said the investigation includes conducting interviews, evaluating imported items patients may have come in contact with and identifying other possible cases to try to find a source of infection.
“These three cases seem to be genetically linked or genetically similar at least,” he said.
The health agencies are asking medical professionals to contact their local public health department if other infections are found.
A GoFundMe page dedicated to raising funds to help with Lylah Baker’s medical costs exceeded its goal of $20,000 after USA Today published an article about her case.
Nick’s Family Restaurant in Denison has also raised funds to help with the family’s medical expenses. In August, another benefit is set to take place at 1880 Ice House in Denison.
Before spending weeks on end in treatments, Lylah Baker loved spending time outside, her father and Kennon said.
Kennon described her as a child with wide-ranging interests — a girly girl and a tomboy, a lover of princesses and of dragons.
“She always talked about fighting dragons like her dad,” Dustin Baker said. “That’s what she calls fires.”
