Local man recovering from a flesh eating bacterial infection

A local man is being treated in an Indianapolis hospital after being infected with a flesh-eating bacterium of unknown origin.

Kurt Carlsen, 61, Scipio, who is the chief engineer of the Columbus Police Department for 40 years and also works at Rural King, has been recovering at the IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis since late June, after having was diagnosed with bacterium treatment at Schneck Medical Center in Seymour.

It was listed in a stable state at Methodist Friday, hospital officials said.

Necrotizing fasciitis, more commonly known as carnivorous disease, is a rare bacterial infection that spreads rapidly in the body and can lead to death, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Accurate diagnosis, rapid antibiotic treatment and rapid surgery are used to stop the infection. Fever, dizziness or nausea soon after an injury or surgery are symptoms of the disease, classified into four types, depending on the organism's infectivity. Between 55% and 80% of cases involve more than one type of bacteria.

Carlsen, speaking on the phone at the Indianapolis Hospital on Friday, said that Calvary had begun on June 23 when he had noticed that a pimple on his back had turned into boiling and that the pain became more and more intense. He first went to PromptMed in Columbus, where he received antibiotics and painkillers, and he was told that he was not doing better the next day, getting it. additional medical help.

When his fever and pain did not subside, Carlsen called his son to ask him to take him to the Schneck emergency room, where the doctors were immediately concerned.

"The door to my room was a revolving door of doctors," Carlsen said. "They told me that they were forming an emergency surgery team and that I was going to get surgery." I woke up three days later. "

Carlsen underwent several surgeries to clear the infection and Schneck's doctors told him that he had been diagnosed as a flesh-eating bacteria.

"They told me that if I had not gone to the ER, I would not be here in four or six hours," Carlsen said. "It almost killed me."

At Methodist, Carlsen is undergoing intensive wound treatment and the wound is now under control, according to what he said, he said.

"I have a long way to go to recover," said Carlsen, adding that he would have to undergo plastic surgery and skin grafts to repair areas where surgeons have eliminated the bacteria.

Carlsen said he did not know how he could have contracted the bacteria.

In the United States, three people on vacation in Florida or in other tropical regions have been diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis this summer, and one woman has died. Warmer water that causes bacteria in these areas has been cited as the cause of infections caused by exposure of people with skin wounds to the bacteria in the water.

Carlsen said he had not left the state and had not been to any swimming pool or waterway. The doctors were not able to tell him where he could have come in contact with the bacteria.

A member of St. Peter's Lutheran Church in Columbus, Carlsen said he appreciated the support and encouragement he received from his family and friends. He said that he did not know how long he would be hospitalized as part of his recovery.

Prevention

Diagnosis of necrotizing fasciitis