Last month, a few minor blisters turned into a flesh-eating nightmare for hiker Wayne Atkins, who developed a dangerous bacterial infection after climbing Mount Garfield, a 4,500-foot peak in New Hampshire. Atkins survived, but barely: He spent 2 1/2 weeks in a medically induced coma while doctors pumped him full of antibiotics and removed chunks of his flesh to get rid of the infection.
And Atkins was lucky, relatively speaking: Infection with flesh-eating bacteria is considered a surgical emergency, and can require limb amputation. One in four people with necrotizing fasciitis dies.
But is there any reason for the rest of us to be concerned? Or was Atkins’s case a bacterial lightning strike?
Here are five things to know about flesh-eating infections:
1. What causes the infection?
Multiple types of bacteria can cause so-called flesh-eating infections, also known as necrotizing fasciitis, but Atkins fell victim to Group A Streptococcus, which Dr. Bernard Camins, an infectious disease specialist at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, considers “the quintessential flesh-eating bacteria.”
Group A strep may sound familiar: It is the same bacteria that causes strep throat.
2. Where does a person catch that bacteria?
Around 3 percent of healthy adults and 5 to 15 percent of healthy children have Group A strep bacteria colonies in their nose and throat or on their skin. When people develop necrotizing fasciitis, it’s usually because Group A strep already on their skin get inside a wound after an injury or surgery, though a needle prick or blister could be enough. From there, the bacteria quickly start destroying skin, fat and muscle, and eventually work their way into the bloodstream.
3. Why does a generally harmless bacteria turn deadly?
According to Camins, Group A strep bacteria are very unpredictable, and scientists don’t know for sure. They can turn deadly once they breach the body’s natural barriers and reach the superficial fascia, a layer of connective tissue just underneath the skin. From there, they start spreading rapidly into the surrounding tissues, releasing destructive toxins along the way.
This is more common in people with weakened immune systems whose bodies can’t fight off the bacteria as effectively. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that only 700 to 1,100 cases of necrotizing fasciitis occur every year in the U.S., and most occur in people with diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, or other conditions that weaken the immune system.
4. What are the symptoms?
A necrotizing fasciitis infection can develop within a few hours, and is difficult to diagnose, especially early on when patients may have vague symptoms, such as pain or soreness at the injury site. Early symptoms can also include reddish or purplish areas of swelling that spread rapidly, and Camins said one giveaway is when people have “pain that is out of proportion to what the wound looks like.” Later symptoms include fever, chills, or vomiting. Doctors generally treat the infection with a combination of strong antibiotics to knock out the bacteria and surgery to remove dead tissue.
5. How can I avoid it?
To avoid infection, Camins recommends washing wounds with soap and water, applying antibacterial ointment like Polysporin, and checking wounds on a regular basis. And if you are in huge amounts of pain from a wound that otherwise looks OK, get yourself to a hospital ASAP.
I got the disease in a blister on my right foot and lost all 5 toes and about a inch off the top of my foot, dr.had to pull skin from the bottom of my foot up to trie and close the wound and it still wasn’t enough, dr.told me I had less than 24 to live if he hadn’t got to it when he did, so make sure if you suspect something get it checked right away
I just visited a friend of mine in the hospital. He has been bedridden for 1.5 years. He said it started out as blisters and turned into black sores infesting his legs and eating his skin. he said he could actually see the tendons in his calf. He doesn’t know the name of the disease and the hospital wouldn’t tell me. Does someone know what it might be?
So to all of the commenters here whether or not their spelling is proper-
Be careful.
a) “If you can’t say something nice, don’t say nothin’ at all” – Thumper, aka the [fictional] animated rabbit from Disney’s Bambi who CLEARLY has more tact, empathy and compassion in his teeniest little 2D rabbit toe than you are apparently capable of. So maybe don’t be a dick?
b) if you ABSOLUTELY insist on hijacking a post with a subject matter as dire and devastating as this just to criticize the spelling of other commenters who are likely dealing with a whole world of sorrow, grief, terror and loss that I doubt you’ve had the misfortune to encounter AT LEAST MAKE SURE YOUR $&@%ING GRAMMAR IS AIRTIGHT
c) To everyone personally going through something like this… I send all of the love. You/your loved ones can be as careful as you can but yet… sometimes you’re faced with the worst case scenario and within less than a week, out of nowhere(!), you’ve lost someone dear to you and no one knows how it happened in the first place. I’m losing someone in a few hours who was perfectly fine 5 days ago and I’m at a total loss. We all are. But we have to let him go, just like that. You can be as careful as you please but sometimes it just doesn’t matter. Leave proper spelling for autocorrect and go hug the ones you love goddamnit before you suddenly can’t. And give an extra hug for Lloyd, for me 💙💙💙
d) apologies if that was harsh! But I’m about to lose someone I love, so.. I lack the ability to sugar-coat anything. If you’re reading this and going through a similar scenario… know that you’re not alone in your pain 😘
This was very helpful information for me.i got it on my foot it started up my leg.i called 911
It saved my life as well my foot and leg. Thank God
Theirs usually an explanation fort some of theese Bacteria
” ALAWAYS CLEAN WOUNDS AND TAKE CARE of children ”
2 Die, More Sickened By Flesh-Eating Bacteria In Florida
Two people have died this year and several others sickened in Florida after exposure to flesh-eating bacteria, AccuWeather reports. The bacteria thrives in warm waters, and most cases of Vibrio vulnificus occur in Gulf states. Experts say they expect to see more cases as temperatures rise. Risk of infection is greater for people entering the water who have open wounds, cuts or scrapes – bacteria can enter the body there. Consuming seafood that is not thoroughly cooked can also cause infection.
sry for my spelling .here more on that topic and as you can see in this link you will identify the cause is oceans and ponds H2O.
http://www.ajc.com/news/local/doctor-answers-questions-about-flesh-eating-bacteria/vZpv9odjFik7vVvz9A4SHI/
Suggestions please!!!!! have had swollen glands and now I have a few cuts/sores that are really infected the one on my toe is small but very painful. Last night I was dizzy/nauseaus/EXTREMELY tired/sweating/clammy. U have no health insurance so I have not seen a medical person–been trying to clear infections on my own with Epsom salts /vinegar/and a little bit of ointment but i am allergic to neosporin.i have also heard chamomile tea bags or garlic on wound help infection . Any suggestions?
I have had swollen glands and now I have a few cuts/sores that are really infected the one on my toe is small but very painful. Last night I was dizzy/nauseaus/EXTREMELY tired/sweating/clammy. U have no health insurance so I have not seen a medical person–been trying to clear infections on my own with Epsom salts /vinegar/and a little bit of ointment but i am allergic to neosporin.i have also heard chamomile tea bags or garlic on wound help infection . Any suggestions?
I think I have it.. 🙁
January 6th i went to the hospital, they said i had rhabdomyolisis. By January 21st they said i had necrotizing fasciitis and i had emergency surgery, my husband had me transferred to Henry Ford Hospitalin Detroit. There i had 5 or 6 more emergency surgeries so i wouldnt die, which they expected me to die having surgery every other day. I got out of rehab on June 22nd. I finally went home. I had to learn how to walk with a walker. The Drs cut to the bone to cut out all the infection. Now i can barely walk the pain is getting worse from the scar tissue. Im going to need more plastic surgery soon to fix what got messed up. I cant stol cryi g asking why me what did i do to deserve this. Necrotizing fasciitis is no joke and is so incredibly painful. My husband keeps telling me to be thankful im not dead, like i should of been but fought like hell during my coma.i wouldnt wish this on my worst enemy.
A friend of mine was just diagnosed with this