FLA. Rare seawater bacteria kills 35 people a year in USA (FLESH EATING DISEASE)
Rare seawater bacteria kills 35 people a year in USA
Michelle Healy, USA TODAY 3:56 p.m. EDT October 2, 2013
The bacterium Vibrio vulnificus is naturally found in warm salt water, and people with open wounds can easily be exposed through direct contact with seawater.
Story Highlights
- Florida man's death tied to rare flesh-eating disease
- Bacteria can enter body through cut or scrape on a swimmer or fisherman
- Nationwide, about 35 people a year die from infection by the bacteria
The death last week of a Florida man from an uncommon flesh-eating bacterium was the state's ninth so far this year.
The bacterium is in the same family as those that cause cholera.
Henry Konietzky, 59, of Palm Coast, Fla., died Sept. 23 after setting crab traps two days earlier in the river near Ormond Beach, Fla. The following day, he noticed a sore on his leg that looked like a bug bite.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus is naturally found in warm salt water, and people with open wounds can easily be exposed through direct contact with seawater.
The Florida Department of Health reports that the state averages 16 fatal cases from Vibrio vulnificus annually. Nationally, about 95 cases, 85 hospitalizations and 35 deaths occur each year, according to the department.
William Schaffner, an infectious-disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, explains how this rare and often under-reported infection occurs and how it can be treated.
Q: How do people get exposed to Vibrio vulnificus?
A: The bacteria thrive in warm salty water around the Gulf Coast, often in shallow water where people fish and play. If people have scratches or cuts on their skin, usually the legs, the bacteria can find their way in and cause aggressive infections. The infections are frequently over-looked initially by patients in the early stages because it doesn't look serious. Under the skin, however, the bacteria can cause substantial tissue damage and enter the blood stream and cause sepsis (a severe blood infection).
Q: Can some people be exposed if they consume raw seafood?
A: People with liver or kidney disease, in particular, are at risk when they eat raw oysters. Oysters filter huge amounts of water, so if the bacteria are in the water, the oyster can ingest them. People whose immune systems are compromised can get overwhelmingly sick quickly. Contaminated oysters can be distributed anywhere in the country.
Q: Is this the same bacteria that affected Aimee Copeland, the Georgia graduate student who was infected last year after cutting her leg and falling into a river?
A: No. That case involved the bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila. It and Vibrio vulnificus are not in the same family of bacteria, but the manner of contracting the infection is similar.
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/10/02/florida-bacteria-oysters/2909585/
