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Mike O'Grady was used to being in danger as a police officer in Nbadau County, New York.
But it was not the police who left the resident of Lecanto on the verge of losing his life: it was a bacterial infection, powerful enough to hospitalize him for 16 days in the hospital and get the surgeons to cut the rotting flesh of her bad, where the infection began.
O'Grady is one of the few victims of necrotizing fasciitis, better known as a food illness. Once infected, the bacteria leave parts of the patient's soft tissues dead. It can be a quick and deadly disease.
Before going to Citrus Memorial Hospital, "I would have said the pain was 9 ½ in 10," O'Grady told the Chronicle, lying in his chair at his home in Lecanto. "And the pain was spreading. The infection was spreading. "
He thinks he has contracted in Apalachicola or St. Georgia Island, in Franklin County, for a three-day weekend with his family.
The Florida Department of Health does not follow cases of necrotizing fasciitis.
According to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, different strains of bacteria can cause the deadly disease. The most common bacterium that causes it is Group A Streptococcus, according to the CDC. There are no vaccines to prevent Group A streptococcal infections.
Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus) on Gram stain.
US Centers for Disease Control / Prevention for the Chronic
However, the Florida Department of Health is closely following cases of Vibrio vulnificus, a water-borne bacterium that, while a less common cause of necrotizing fasciitis, still poses a risk to summer swimmers, particularly in humans. especially those wading in the Gulf.
The Department of Health has reported no cases of Vibrio vulnificus in Citrus County in 2019. At the state level, there have been 10 but no deaths, according to FDOH. . In 2017, there were 50 cases in Florida representing 11 deaths.
People with Vibrio vulnificus infection can become seriously ill and require intensive care or amputation of a limb, according to the CDC. About one in five people with this type of infection die, sometimes a day or two after becoming ill.
Vibrio vulnificus is a waterborne bacterium that, although a less common cause of necrotizing fasciitis, still presents a risk to summer swimmers, especially those wading in the Gulf.
US Centers for Disease Control / Prevention for the Chronic
It is unclear which bacterium caused O'Grady infection.
Local surgeons operated daily from 27 June to 2 July to collect decayed flesh, irrigate the wound and administer antibiotics.
The life-threatening ordeal began in May for 68-year-old Grady, who had sciatica pain and went to his doctor's office for steroid injections near the back and left bad.
A week later, he was still in pain and went to an emergency center where steroid pills were prescribed. A few days later, he and his family were swimming on St. George Island.
The symptoms of his necrotizing fasciitis began soon after.
He felt bad during the drive, but his family attributed it to an excess of sun, said his wife Kelli O'Grady.
"Then I felt progressively worse. I had cold sweats. It looked like someone was holding a pipe over their head, "recalls Mike O'Grady.
An abscess also is formed at the injection site, reaching the size of a lemon, he said.
He thought the problem would be solved alone. Over the next few days, he attended a play with his wife, sang with his gospel quartet and continued his life.
It was at this point that his wife said that she was starting to be scared.
"It's a problem," she recalls telling her husband.
On Wednesday, June 26, "the site was hot. The skin was enlarged. He could hardly walk at that time and he said, "Let's go to the emergency room," she said.
In addition to necrotizing fasciitis, O & # 39; Grady also had life-threatening sepsis and the infection had spread to his pelvis. To help the healer heal, doctors have also reoriented his colon into a colostomy bag over the next few months.
Fortunately, O'Grady's infection did not spread to his organs, but he only learned of it after surgeons cut his abdomen and thorax to see the extent of the damage.
The doctors finally released O'Grady from the Citrus Memorial Hospital on July 11th.
The CDC urges people who think they are infected to act quickly.
Bacteria most commonly enter the body through a broken skin, according to the CDC, including:
- Cuts and scratches
- burns
- Insect bites
- Puncture wounds (including those due to intravenous or intravenous drug use)
- Surgical wounds
However, people can also contract necrotizing fasciitis after an injury that does not break the skin, such as blunt trauma.
For these reasons, public health officials advise prompt treatment of any injury that occurs in an environment where the bacteria responsible for necrotizing fasciitis might be, for example, when they emerge from the shell. They also advise to shower after exposure to these environments.
The infection often spreads quickly. The first symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis may include:
- An area of red or swollen skin that spreads quickly
- Intense pain, including pain beyond the area of skin that is red or swollen
- Fever
Necrotizing fasciitis can also lead to sepsis, shock and organ failure.
People with weakened or weak immune systems, including very young or very old, are at increased risk. Other conditions that weaken the immune system include:
- Diabetes
- Kidney disease
- Cicatrization (cirrhosis) of the liver
- Cancer
"Whilst anyone can catch necrotizing fasciitis, it's rare. Most people with this disease have other health problems that can reduce their body's ability to fight off infections, "according to the CDC.
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