Flesh eating bacteria -
It is truly horrifying, the flesh eating bacteria, a rare one but it has struck and that too in USA. The Victim is known by the name of Aimee Copeland a graduate student in University of West Georgia. It all happened during the course of normal youthful activities. During kayaking near Little Tallapoosa River she got inflicted with a large gash in her calf which was treated in a routine manner by stitching the wound. Little did the patient and the doctors knew that the flesh eating bacteria had already made its home deeper inside the body and went ahead with a great speed on what it does best; eating skin, fat and tissues.
The lady was suffering and was again brought back to hospital with no signs of healing instead her condition had deteriorated. A simple cut had assumed a dangerous and life threatening situation.
To the horror of doctors she was infected with flesh eating bacteria causing the disease known as “necrotizing fasciitis”. She lost her infected leg and suffered cardiac arrest but she was snatched from the jaws of death by the team of doctors. She is on the path of recovery.
What might have happened? The disease, a very rare one is life threatening which is caused by the same bacteria responsible for strep throat. The common symptoms of strep throat is high fever, severe sore throat without any symptoms of cough and cold, swollen glands under the jaws and white patches on tonsils and throats.
The bacteria are found in warm and brackish water (Water having higher salinity due to various reasons) and the infection is through swallowing of that water containing the bacteria. The dangerous part is that when the bacteria gets inside a wound. In such cases the bacteria starts destroying the tissues around it at an amazing speed and goes wild in search of nutrition.
So the key thing to remember is when one gets injured and in touch with water with higher salinity you need to exercise greater caution to pre-empt the possibility of “necrotizing fasciitis”. I wish speedy recovery to brave girl who has survived in a manner which is termed as miraculous by doctors.
