Four people in Florida have died this year due to bacterial infections that can cause “eating meat”, the State Health Department reported this month.
The culprit, the vibrio vulnificus bacteria, thrives in warm sea water. Mortal cases were seen in the counties spread over the extensive coast of Florida, from Bay County, in Panhandle and Hillsborough County, where Tampa is located, on the Gulf coast, to Broward County in Southeast Florida and St. Johns’s county south of Jacksonville.
Florida has seen 11 cases of vibrio vulnificus so far this year, says the State Health Department. The bacteria can enter the body through open -wounds on the skin and make the surrounding tissue die, a condition known as necrotizing fasciitis or eating disease, according to centers for control and disease prevention. People can also obtain vibrio vulnificus by eating contaminated foods, particularly raw oysters. It is not clear how people were infected in Florida.
Around 1 in 5 people with a vibrio vulnificus infection die, says the CDC.
ANTARPRET JUTLA, Professor of Engineering at the University of Florida who investigates Vibrio bacteria, said Vibrio Vulnificus infections are still rare, although they tend to increase after hurricanes. Last year, Florida saw a total of 82 cases, which may have been exacerbated by the “extremely active” hurricane season.
What is vibrio vulnificus?
Vibrio Vulnificus is one of the more than 200 species of Vibrio bacteria, said Rita Colwell, a professor of microbiology at the University of Maryland.
Most Vibrio infections are not harmful to humans, Jutla said. Some only affect other animals.
But vibrio bacteria cause about 80,000 infections in people every year, according to the Cleveland Clinic. Most of these cases are gastrointestinal. Only a little handful, from 100 to 200 cases, are due to vibrio vulnificus. Other species of vibrio, including vibrio parahaemolyticus and vibrio alginolyticus, are often the cause of these stomach diseases. Another type of vibrio, Vibrio Colorae, causes the anger of diarrheal disease.
Because vibrio bacteria prefer warm water, they are usually found along the coasts of the southeast of the United States, but are also found on the west coast. As oceanic temperatures are heated, more north cases have been found in recent years, said Jutla, including some in New York, Connecticut and Maryland.
Who is at risk?
Vibrio bacteria can drag into open wounds after spending time in salt water or brackish, said Dr. Norman Beatty, an infectious disease doctor at the University of Florida Health. Most of the cases they have seen have been associated with a long time in the water, but says that a brief exposure could be the “necessary”.
The visible signs of an infection can begin in just a few hours, said Beatty, and include redness, swelling and ampoules of “ox eye.” The site will also be painful. If the infection progresses, you can enter the bloodstream and cause sepsis, which can be deadly. The symptoms of sepsis include fever, chills and dangerously low blood pressure, according to CDCs.
People with liver cirrhosis, weakened immune systems and those over 65 are at the greatest risk of infection, Jutla said.
Vibrio vulnificus infections can be treated with antibiotics.
How to prevent vibrium infections
Beatty said he recommends covering any open wound before entering the ocean. Even an AIDS of waterproof does the job, he said.
If people think they have an infection, they should seek attention immediately, Beatty said. Delaying can be the difference between developing serious complications and a milder infection.
“A delay in the presentation of medical care is really the probable reason why most people have a more serious result,” he said. “People who present within the same day with signs and symptoms of early infection, who receive antibiotics, can do well and can avoid many of these serious complications.”
