Vibrio vulnificus : Flesh-Eating Bacteria
The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a national health alert to warn doctors and clinicians to be on the lookout for people infected with the flesh-eating bacteria Vibrio vulnificus.
- Vibrio vulnificus is a type of bacteria that can cause a fatal infection.
- This infection can happen when a wound comes into contact with raw or undercooked seafood, its juices, or its drippings or salt water.
- It eats away at the skin, muscles, nerves, fat and blood vessels around an infected wound.
- In severe cases, it can lead to septicemia, which is when the bacteria enter the bloodstream.
- It results in a septic shock, where blood pressure drops dangerously.
- Symptoms:
- Watery diarrhoea is often accompanied by stomach cramping, nausea, vomiting, and fever.
- For bloodstream infection: fever, chills, dangerously low blood pressure, and blistering skin lesions
- For wound infection: Fever, redness, pain, swelling, warmth, discolouration, and discharge (leaking fluids).
- The only method available to avoid getting infected with the bacteria is to avoid coming in contact with it.
- It is advised to make sure any seafood you consume is well-cooked, avoid raw or undercooked oysters and clean your hands after handling any kind of seafood.
