In South Korea, a 71-year-old man was admitted to hospital after consuming raw seafood infected with bacteria: his left hand was necrotic and swelled dramatically. He must have been amputated.
This sensational new story is brought to us by the New England Journal of Medicine. Sensitive souls, it is probably better to go your way.
In Jeonju, South Korea, a 71-year-old man presented to the emergency room with unusual symptoms. In addition to suffering from fever and extreme pain in her left hand, her left hand had blood-filled blisters (called hemorrhagic bubbles) on the palm of 3.5 cm by 4.5 cm. On the dorsal side of the hand and on his forearm, doctors found erythematous swelling with bubbles and bruising. Urgently rushed to surgery where the bleeding bubbles were drained, the patient told the healthcare team that he had eaten raw seafood two days earlier.
A 71-year-old man presented to the emergency department with fever and left hand pain after eating raw seafood. Surgical wound cultures identified Vibrio vulnificus.
– NEJM (@NEJM) July 30, 2018
A flesh-eating bacteria
It is this raw seafood that is responsible for its condition. In fact, the doctors had the liquid present in the bubbles analyzed and identified the bacteria. Vibrio vulfinicus.
Very virulent and invasive, the bacteria Vibrio vulfinicus is mainly found in warm marine environments, where it is associated with various species such as plankton, crustaceans (oysters, clams, crabs) and fish.
The development of the disease results either from infection via an open wound in seawater where the bacteria is found, or by laceration of the skin by the coral, or even from ingestion of the bacteria contained in it. contaminated water. Most cases of human infection result in particular from the consumption of raw oysters. According to Malaysian researchers, several hundred cases occur each year.
The bacteria “Vibrio vulnificus can cause skin infections after exposure of the wound to contaminated seawater, as well as primary sepsis (an infection of the blood) from the consumption of raw or undercooked seafood, ”write Dr Jin Park and Chang-Seop Lee, who treated the patient. “Patients with immunosuppressive diseases, including chronic liver disease and cancer, have an increased risk of infection and complications.”
This is the case for this 71-year-old man. In addition to suffering from type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, he was on hemodialysis for end stage kidney disease, which likely prevented his body from properly eliminating pathogens.
Even taken care of in time, the man had to have his left forearm amputated. “Despite treatment, the skin lesions progressed to deep necrotic ulcers, and amputation of the left forearm was performed 25 days after presentation. The patient recovered well from the operation and was sent home. “
100% mortality rate in untreated patients
But the consequences could have been much more dramatic. According to the review American Family Physician cited by the site IFL Science, the death rate for the sepsis form of the disease is 50% if it has progressed to the bleeding bubble stage. Even with prompt medical intervention, 30-40% of patients die from necrotizing fasciitis, also known as flesh-eating disease.
In 1988, a study conducted in Florida and involving 38 people with sepsis on the Vibrio vulnificus showed that the death rate was 100% in untreated people within 72 hours of onset of infection.
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