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Girl Dies at 18 from Mesothelioma

An 18 year old Great Britain girl who became an inspiration to many after she developed mesothelioma at an early age sadly passed away last week. Aside from the grief of those supporting her fight against the disease, her death at such a young age raises new questions about the perceived latency period of diseases from asbestos exposure.

Sophie Ellis was only 13 years old when doctors first diagnosed her with mesothelioma. Experts are still not sure how she contracted the condition, which has been shown to be caused by exposure to asbestos. Because of the environments that usually bring victims in contact with the substance, Mesothelioma usually affects people in their 40s or older who have worked in certain high risk industries.

Doctors are now seeing more cases develop from secondary exposure, such as contact with clothes from family members who work near asbestos. Some believe this could have been a cause of Ellis disease. At the time she was diagnosed, she was given only months to live. Instead, she bravely fought the terminal disease for 5 years.

Ellis kept up her dream of becoming a musician or actress, even after having to undergo surgery to remove a lung and losing the use of her legs. She eventually was forced to stop college studies due to her treatment.

What baffles experts is that mesothelioma usually takes 15 to 40 years to develop. However, Ellis case is a rare exception. In Great Britain, which has the highest mesothelioma death rate in the world, only 9 people under the age of nineteen have died from the disease in the past 40 years.