[ad_1]
The Mobile County Health Department is studying its first case of Vibrio in 2018, a bacterial infection that can cause a condition known as necrotizing fasciitis or flesh-eating disease.
Few details are available. The variant of Vibrio involved in the case is Vibrio vulnificus, which can cause flesh-eating syndrome. However, Barbara Gibbs, RN, who oversees the Division of Infectious Diseases and Outbreaks of the MCHD, said that necrotizing fasciitis was not involved in the current case.
The MCHD stated that the victim was exposed to infection in the Mobile River. no other details, citing patients' right to privacy.
Vibrio is a naturally occurring bacterium in coastal waters, and there are more than 70 species. Concentrations increase during the heat months, and the risk of life-threatening infections increases. According to the Centers for Disease Control, 80,000 people a year contract vibriosis, a disease related to food poisoning. But vibrio infections can lead to more serious complications, including organ failure and a syndrome eating flesh. People with weakened immune systems are thought to be more vulnerable to such cases, which tend to occur more during the summer months.
People can become infected by eating raw or undercooked seafood; by handling freshly caught fish or shrimp; or through open cuts while swimming in the waters carrying the bacteria.
In 2017, seven cases of Vibrio infection were reported to the MCHD. The CDC website contains tips on how to avoid exposure to the vibrio.
Source link
