A dog’s signs of affection can sometimes turn into a nightmare … Marie Trainer, an American living in Ohio, left her limbs there. The saliva of her dog, a German Shepherd puppy, caused her a septicemia requiring amputation of his hands and legs.
On May 11, the 54-year-old woman was returning from a vacation in Punta Cana with her husband when she began to suffer from back pain and nausea, says CNN. Her body temperature suddenly rising before falling, she was hospitalized in the emergency room. Marie Trainer quickly fell unconscious and her skin quickly changed color, turning purplish red and turning gangrene.
The woman wakes up nine days later in her hospital bed with a frightening vision: her hands and legs have been amputated. Doctors explain to him that they discovered only seven days after his arrival at the hospital that his sepsis was not due to a tropical disease contracted during his trip but rather by the kisses of his dog. The rare infection is linked to the bacteria capnocytophaga canimorsus, possibly transmitted when the puppy licked an unhealed wound from its mistress.
Naturally hosted in the oral flora of some dogs or cats, this germ can be transmitted to humans by the bite or licking the skin lesion. The germ very rarely causes disease in humans. This occurs in people with weakened immune systems, such as cancer patients and people whose spleen has been removed, CNN explains.
In these rare cases, the infection, carried by this bacteria, can be fatal for the infected person.
“I’m ready to move on”
Marie Trainer was saved at the last minute. The infection quickly spread to his nose, ears, limbs and part of his face. No less than eight surgeries were performed on the patient to stop the infection. Today she remains closely followed by the medical team. She will soon be out of the hospital to go to a rehabilitation center where she will learn how to use her prostheses. His medical costs were funded in part through an online fundraiser that raised $ 20,000 (or 17,859 euros).
Despite this ordeal, Marie Trainer remains positive: “I am so ready to move on. I want to go home, I want to go back to work,” she told CNN.
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