Flesh-eating Vibrio Vulnificus infection killed 8 in Florida in 2021

A a bacterial infection has killed at least eight people in Florida this year so far, health officials recently reported. Twenty people statewide have been sickened by waterborne bacteria Vibrio vulnificus, a relative of cholera infamous for sometimes causing a flesh-eating infection.

Vibrio bacteria are found in abundance in marine environments and brackish waters. Harmful species by Vibrio, including V. vulnificus, usually make us sick when we eat naturally contaminated and undercooked seafood or drink water contaminated with the feces of other infected people, the latter problem being a common problem in countries with poor sanitation. These infections cause gastrointestinal symptoms, especially diarrhea.

Corn V. vulnificus also has the unfortunate ability to cause necrotizing fasciitis when it enters open wounds: a rapidly spreading infection that begins to kill the skin and underlying muscles the day after exposure (hence its charming nickname “flesh-eating disease”). The infection can then trigger a life-threatening immune response called sepsis that requires immediate treatment. Even with treatment, one in five victims die, while survivors can end up with large scars or amputated limbs.

There are many species of bacteria that can cause necrotizing fasciitis, but in Florida, V. vulnificus has been a persistent but still very rare source of these nightmarish infections.

According to the Florida Department of Health, 20 people are known to have contracted V. vulnificus in the state this year in early September. Eight have died as a result, with the latest death confirmed by Leon County officials on Friday, according to to the outbreak news today.

Wound infections V. vulnificus are considered more common during the summer months, when more people are out to swim. So the meat-eating season may soon come to an end. That said, it’s the highest number of reported deaths in Florida since 2018, which has recorded nine. deaths.

Necrotizing fasciitis is usually very rare. But some scientists to worry that these infections could become more common in the years to come, in part due to climate change. Warmer water temperatures, higher sea levels, and more frequent extreme weather events that lead to flooding are all risk factors that will likely put us at risk. V. vulnificus more often. So, yeah, just a little food for thought.