The department's Sally Slavinski says parents should supervise children to keep them from ingesting raccoon feces. The worms lay eggs in the feces; they hatch after being ingested and travel through the body.
Droppings should be picked up using gloves and disposable bags, and put in the trash.
The infant has been hospitalized since suffering seizures and spinal problems last October. The teenager went blind in one eye in January.
For more info on raccoon roundworm:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dpd/parasites/baylisascaris/default.htm
http://www.avma.org/reference/zoonosis/znbaylis.asp
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