Re: Deadly bacteria kills Florida man in less than 48 hours (CBS News, September 30 2013, extract)
[Source: ProMedMail.org, full page: (
LINK). Edited.]
Published Date: 2013-10-01 12:51:42,
Subject: PRO/EDR> Vibrio vulnificus - USA (03): (FL) fatal, alert,
Archive Number: 20131001.1977219
VIBRIO VULNIFICUS - USA (03): (FLORIDA) FATAL, ALERT
A ProMED-mail post
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Date: Mon 30 Sep 2013 / Source: CBS News [edited]:
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57605359/fla-man-dies-after-being-infected-by-bacteria-from-river/
A Florida man has reportedly died less than 48 hours after being exposed to water bacteria. The 59-year-old died last Mon 23 Sep 2013, being infected with _Vibrio vulnificus_, a bacterium that belongs in the same family as cholera that lives in warm, saltwater water, CBS affiliate WKMG in Orlando, Florida reported.
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The Florida Department of Health added to WKMG that in 2013 there have been 26 cases of _V. vulnificus_ in the state alone, resulting in 9 deaths.*****
The man had been crab fishing in the Halifax River near Ormond Beach, FL. When he woke the next day, his family members told WKMG that he noticed what looked like a bug bite on his leg. Doctors did not take the injury seriously until he started feeling ill, and the wound started "festering." He went to the emergency room on 22 Sep 2013 and passed away the next day.
Family members state that the victim perfectly healthy before this incident.
_V. vulnificus_ usually infects people who eat contaminated seafood or enters the body when an open wound is exposed to water containing the bacteria. Infection can cause vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain.
However, if a person has a weakened immune system -- especially people with chronic liver disease -- the bacteria can infect the bloodstream. This can cause a serious illness that involves fever and chills, decreased blood pressure, and blistering skin lesions. _V. vulnificus_ bloodstream infections are fatal 50 percent of the time.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say that _V. vulnificus_ infections are rare, but may be underreported. There were more than 900 reports of the bacteria in the Gulf Coast states between 1988 and 2006.
Flagler County Health Department Administrator Patrick Johnson told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that officials are concerned since 2 of the most recent cases happened near the same area. "This is an illness that generally happens when someone eats raw oysters but that's not the case here," Johnson said. "Because the 2 most recent cases are linked to the same area, we wanted to make the public aware."
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[The following is exacted from the "Bad Bug Book," Center for Safety and Applied Nutrition, US FDA (Food & Drug Administration) at
http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/UCM297627.pdf:
_Vibrio vulnificus_, a lactose-fermenting, halophilic, Gram negative, opportunistic pathogen, is found in estuarine environments and associated with various marine species such as plankton, shellfish (oysters, clams, and crabs), and finfish. Environmental factors responsible for controlling numbers of _V. vulnificus_ in seafood and in the environment include temperature, pH [acidity], salinity, and amounts of dissolved organics. It may be normal flora in salt water, and acquiring this organism from shellfish or water exposure does not imply that the water is contaminated by sewage.
Wound infections result either from contaminating an open wound with sea water harboring the organism, or by lacerating part of the body on coral, fish, etc., followed by contamination with the organism. The ingestion of _V. vulnificus_ by healthy individuals can result in gastroenteritis.
The "primary septicemia" form of the disease follows consumption of raw seafood containing the organism by individuals with underlying chronic disease, particularly liver disease. The organism can also enter through damaged skin. In these individuals, the microorganism enters the blood stream, resulting in septic shock, rapidly followed by death in many cases (about 50 percent). Over 70 percent of infected individuals have distinctive bullous skin lesions (shown at
http://safeoysters.org/medical/diagnosis.html ).
There are 2 points to be emphasized: that vibrios are normal flora in warm saltwater (not indicative of any sewage contamination) and that most of the life-threatening illnesses occur in individuals with underlying medical illnesses, including immunocompromised states, chronic liver disease, and diabetes. So-called normal individuals often just get gastroenteritis. The range of disease due to _V. vulnificus_ can include more northern geographical areas if the area is affected by a substantial heat wave. - Mod.LL
A HealthMap/ProMED-mail map can be accessed at:
http://healthmap.org/r/2o_u.]
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