A fever and excruciating pain developed in the left hand of a 71-year-old Korean man, 12 hours after he ate raw seafood. Two days later, the man decides to go to the emergency room. His case was detailed in the medical journal The New England Journal of Medicine.
Large blood-filled blisters covered his left hand. He was immediately operated on to drain them, and doctors managed to isolate the bacteria. Vibrio vulnificus inside these “hemorrhagic bubbles”. This “flesh-eating” bacterium causes infections when it lodges in a wound (or by ingestion) through seawater, crustaceans or fish contaminated. It then releases deadly toxins for our cells, hence the deterioration of the skin.
Amputation necessary despite treatment
The patient was particularly prone to infections since he had a history of Type 2 diabetes, ofhypertension and was in hemodialysis for end stage kidney disease. His body therefore finds it difficult to eliminate pathogens such as Vibrio vulnificus.
Despite the treatment, which was taken very quickly, the skin lesions developed into deep necrotic ulcers and doctors were forced to amputate her left forearm. The operation was performed 25 days after the first operation. Today, the 71-year-old has recovered and has been able to return home.
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