Was it here that I saw a story about bad leftovers causing limbs...

[LAS14]

... needing to be amputated? Apparently it was more disinformation.

https://patch.com/massachusetts/watertown/s/i57cx/baloney-doctors-debunk-story-linking-amputations-to-leftovers?utm_source=alert-breakingnews&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=alert

[PoliticAverse]

1. I think leftovers are where most antibiotics came from. n/t

[LisaL]

2. The study was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

So it wasn't exactly disinformation. If the authors didn't think it was transmitted by food, why did they mention it in the article? At the very least they should have then clarified that the food is not a likely source of his illness.
And I disagree that it was just mentioned "in passing' in the article.

"A 19-year-old man was admitted to the pediatric ICU because of shock, multiple organ failure, and rash. Twenty hours before admission, abdominal pain and nausea developed after he ate leftovers from a restaurant meal. Five hours before admission, purplish discoloration of the skin developed. Management decisions were made."

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcpc2027093

[Wingus Dingus]

3. I couldn't figure out how tainted leftovers was related to

meningococcal septicemia, unless the food was somehow contaminated with that particular bug, which seemed unlikely. Seems like a bad coincidence. UNLESS--the young man had the meningitidis pathogen present in his gut when toxins from the leftovers caused severe inflammation and breakdown of the mucosa, thus allowing the bug to get into the bloodstream, but I don't know if that's even possible. It was interesting to ponder, though. I hadn't heard about "fried rice syndrome" until this.

[LisaL]

4. I don't know exactly how it all relates, but the study was published

in a highly prestigious journal (New England Journal of Medicine). Leftovers are mentioned in the article, presumably to imply they were the source of the disease. In other words, media didn't make it all up.

[Wingus Dingus]

5. Yes, you linked to that and I read it. I don't think

there's an intentional disinformation angle here, but I can't read the Globe article so I don't know what they're saying.

[LisaL]

6. The article talks about him eating leftovers and getting sick, so I think

it's reasonable to expect people who read the article to believe leftovers caused the disease. If that assumption is false, it certainly is not made clear by the article.
WTF is one supposed to think after reading this:
"...abdominal pain and nausea developed after he ate leftovers from a restaurant meal."
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMcpc2027093
That leftovers are not related to him getting sick?

[Red Pest]

13. The publication is a medical case report and they report all the data collected

That said, the causative agent of the illness was Neisseria meningitidis, which is a bacterium. It is typically transmitted by close contact. Kissing is a good way to spread the infection. The organism is commonly found living in the nasopharynx (the back of the throat and nose). About 10% of the population are asymptomatic carriers and can pass it on to others. As has been already stated, it is not associated with food-borne illness.

Further, it was noted that the friend of the afflicted person shared that meal of leftover food experienced some vomiting after ingesting the meal. So the meal may have been improperly stored and both may have had some intoxication from spoilage bacteria.

It is quite interesting that the authors of the article do indicate that the man infected with N. meningitidis was incompletely vaccinated against the bacterium. This is why all (?) colleges & universities require a complete course of vaccination against this organisms before admission (especially into dormitories). These bugs cause horrific and fast progressing infections. this poor guy had parts of all ten fingers amputated and bilateral amputation of his legs below his knees.

Still another example of why vaccines are so important in preventing disease.

[JasonMain]

7. Didn't his friend also eat it and get very sick?

[LisaL]

8. His friend ate it first and threw up.

Thus there were leftovers-friend didn't finish it.

[live love laugh]

9. Friend just had emergency surgery for stomach infection. I'd never heard of that but it was

attributed to “something she ate”. I heard of a second case of stomach infection after hers so maybe it’s a growing problem.

[hippywife]

10. Eating leftover rice that's not been properly handled

can lead to severe illness due to bacteria.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2019/05/02/fried-rice-syndrome-how-leftover-rice-food-poisoning/3555725002/

[wishstar]

11. But is medically established that cooked unrefrigerated rice, potatoes, pasta can seriously sicken

people do need to be aware that not just meat products, but these starchy items when cooked and then left out at room temperature overnight can cause serious illness.

Story in question involves complication of possible contagious meningitis type bacterial spread through saliva to the rice food.

[inthewind21]

12. It was clickbait BS

And people fell for it hook line and sinker. The article posted here was from USA today. And they never cited the NEJM. They focused solely on the rice and pasta. and well, the hysteria ran from there.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100216385278#post47

[LisaL]

14. Well, you can read it in NEJM.

Tell me as to WTF anybody is supposed to think after reading it?

"The patient had been well until 20 hours before this admission, when diffuse abdominal pain and nausea developed after he ate rice, chicken, and lo mein leftovers from a restaurant meal."

https://www.nejm.org/doi/story/10.1056/feature.2021.02.19.100086