Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Flesh-eating bacteria destroyed
much of the tissue in 17-year-old Ashley’s abdomen and arm.
Ashley says, “I’m constantly getting people just staring
at my arm and asking me why my arm’s like that, and why my
stomach’s like that.”

Two years ago, Ashley had her appendix removed. After the surgery,
she got a fever and a horrible stomach pain. Her family rushed
her back to several hospitals, before finding one that could help.
Ashley says, “I think they gave me like Tylenol or something
and I fell asleep, and that’s the only thing I remember.
I woke up like two and a half months later.”

Ashley had necrotizing fasciitis, caused by the same bacteria
which causes strep throat. Doctors don’t know why, but in
rare cases, the bacteria gets into a wound and spreads quickly
underneath the skin. “They tend to destroy the tissue around
it and destroy the blood supply to it,” explains Dr. Joseph
Williams, Chief of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Children’s
Healthcare of Atlanta. “And so, when the tissue doesn’t
get the blood supply, and it doesn’t stay alive, then it
begins to what we call liquefy, or just sort of melt away.”

Doctors at Children’s Healthcare put Ashley into a drug
-induced coma and operated on her every day for 3 weeks. Each day,
they cut away a layer of skin, to stay ahead of the infection.
Dr. Williams says,

“What happens is that you sort of probe around and try
to find if there are certain tracks or cavities where the infection
looks like it is progressing. Sometimes it requires making incisions
somewhere else on the abdomen. Sometimes it requires taking some
of the skin off, so that you can get access to the infection underneath.”

The surgeries saved her life, but now, Ashley gets constant hernias.
Her grandmother, Frankie Harding says, “You have layers of
muscle to hold your intestines inside your body. Well, Ashley doesn’t
have that anymore.”

For now, she deals with the hernia as best she can. Ashley says, “I
used to cover it up. I used to be shy about it, but now I walk
around the mall and I tell people, ‘Hey, do you want to see
what happened to my stomach?’”

According to the Centers for Disease Control, around 10 to 15 percent
of people carry the bacteria which causes necrotizing fasciitis in
their throats. Experts say the bacteria do not survive for long outside
the body—and are deadly only in rare cases when they get into
a wound. Much about why this bacteria becomes deadly is a mystery—but
doctors say many victims have a weakened immune system—or a wound
that will not heal.

For most people, flesh-eating bacteria is a disease from the X-Files
or science-fiction novels. In fact, it is very real. Necrotizing Fasciitis,
also known as the flesh-eating bacteria, affects anywhere from 500 to 1,500
people per year, depending on the research. It develops from group A streptococcus,
which is the same strand that causes Strep throat. According to WebMD, those
most likely to contract Necrotizing Fasciitis include those who:

• Have a weakened immune system or lack the proper antibodies
  to fight off the infection.
• Have chronic health problems, such as diabetes, cancer, or liver
  or kidney disease.
• Have cuts or surgical wounds.
• Recently had chickenpox or other viral infections that cause
  a rash.
• Use steroid medications, which can lower the body’s resistance
  to infection.

It is important for you to know the symptoms
of Necrotizing Fasciitis, because early, prompt diagnosis is essential. Experts
at the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation (NNFF) have developed the
following list of symptoms:

EARLY SYMPTOMS (usually within 24 hours):

• Usually a minor trauma or other skin opening has occurred
  (the wound does not necessarily appear infected).
• Some pain in the general area of the injury is present. Not
  necessarily at the site of the injury but in the same region
  or limb of the body.
• The pain is usually disproportionate to the injury and may
  start as something akin to a muscle pull, but becomes more and
  more painful.
• Flu-like symptoms begin to occur, such as diarrhea, nausea,
  fever, confusion, dizziness, weakness, and general malaise.
• Intense thirst occurs as the body becomes dehydrated.
• The biggest symptom is all of these symptoms combined. In
  general, your child will probably feel worse than he or she has
  ever felt and will not understand why.

ADVANCED SYMPTOMS (usually within three to four days):

• The limb, or area of body experiencing pain, begins to swell
  and may show a purplish rash.
• The limb may begin to have large, dark marks that will become
  blisters filled with blackish fluid.
• The wound may actually begin to appear necrotic with a bluish,
  white, or dark, mottled, flaky appearance.

CRITICAL SYMPTOMS (usually within four to five days):

• Blood pressure will drop severely.
• The body begins to go into toxic shock from the toxins the
  bacteria are giving off.
• Unconsciousness will occur as the body becomes too weak to
  fight off this infection.

If you notice all of the early symptoms in your child, see a doctor
immediately. Most cases of flesh-eating bacteria are incorrectly diagnosed,
so be sure to insist that it is ruled out as a possibility. The effects
of Necrotizing Fasciitis can range from mild scarring to death, but
only prompt diagnosis and treatment can limit the effects as much as
possible.

WebMDHealth
Center for Disease Control and Prevention
National Necrotizing Fasciitis
Foundation
Overcoming Necrotizing
Fasciitis