Health Highlights: Aug. 8, 2016

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Here are some of the latest health and medical news developments, compiled by the editors of HealthDay:

Brain-Eating Amoeba Kills S.C. Girl

An 11-year-old South Carolina girl has died after contracting a brain-eating amoeba.

Hannah Collins died Friday, according to a statement from her family, ABC News/Associated Press reported.

Last Tuesday, South Carolina officials said a person had been exposed to Naegleria fowleri after swimming July 24 in the Edisto River in Charleston County. They did not identify the patient at the time.

Naegleria fowleri is naturally present in warm fresh water and can be deadly if it enters the nose, ABC News/AP reported.

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NIH May Fund Research on Growing Human Organs in Animals

Research into growing human organs in animals may get a boost with a possible U.S. National Institutes of Health policy change.

The agency says it will establish a committee to offer advice on lifting a moratorium on funding for experimentation using human stem cells and animal embryos, CNN reported.

Such a move would make federal funding available to scientists doing human-animal chimera research that could help create kidneys and other organs for people on transplant waiting lists.

“There is clear interest and potential in producing animal models with human tissues or organs for studying human development, disease pathology, and eventually organ transplantation,” according to the NIH.

In the United States, 22 people die each day while waiting for a transplant, CNN reported.

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