Man loses leg to flesh-eating bacteria after swimming in Florida

[steve2470]

http://abc7chicago.com/health/man-loses-leg-to-flesh-eating-bacteria/702643/

(video at link)

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Doctors are issuing a warning about swimming with open wounds after a man in Florida had to have his leg amputated because of a flesh-eating bacterial infection.

Zach Mody only had a minor cut on his toe when he went swimming off a Fort Myers beach in the Gulf of Mexico about a month ago. Now, he's in a hospital bed and is missing one leg.

"I would have never thought in a million years this would have happened to me," Mody told ABC affiliate WZVN-TV.

His symptoms started shortly after his visit to the beach.

more at link

[mmonk]

1. Yikes. I wonder how worse things like this will occur

as the climate and environment change.

[magical thyme]

2. necrotizing fasciitis

very aggressive, fast moving infection, usually caused by strep A (pharyngeal strep) or staph (mrsa being the hardest to treat of course), or polymicrobial and involving bacteroides, vibrio and other species, in the deep tissues. The bacteria release toxins that destroy the skin.

Very high mortality rate if untreated.

[FLPanhandle]

3. I'm surprised it was from swimming in the Gulf of Mexico

Usually this happens from swimming in lakes and other more stagnant bodies of water.

[Whiskeytide]

4. I think that's the "brain eating...

... amoeba" that's in the stagnant pools. This was a flesh eating bacteria.

[FLPanhandle]

7. Thanks

Good to know what body part is in danger with each swimming area!

[Whiskeytide]

8. I could be wrong ...

... about that - not an expert. But either way, sometimes Mother Nature has a way of scaring the crap out of me. I have said before that one of the "no body's talking about it" ways climate change may get us is the release or proliferation of some scary micro-biological stuff that we're not equipped to deal with. Yikes!

[TwilightGardener]

5. Yikes! Used to go to the beach near St. Pete all the time, was worried

about jellyfish and stingrays, not germs. Poor guy.

[TheMastersNemesis]

6. I Lost My Foot To Staff Last Year. Now My Cousin Lost His Right Foot To Gangrene This Year.

My cousin about 3 years younger than me lost his foot to gangrene about 3 months ago.. It showed up as a sore on the bottom of his foot that got worse in just only 3 days. He has been in the hospital or rehab ever since. And he recently had to have surgery again when an artery in his residual limb started to bleed. Ended up having to have 5 pints of blood. He had NO cut on his foot or any other skin break.

In my case my staph started with an attack of gout on my foot. I had NO cut but staph got in anyway. I am now working on getting used to my what I call "bionic leg".

What these cases mean is that you must be vigilant, thoughtful and watchful. In a superbug world any cut needs to be paid attention to. And it is very important to pay attention to our feet. The foot is the swiftest way and easiest way for infection to get an entry point. Even drawing blood when cutting toenails should be watched. And washing feet every day is important.

[MurrayDelph]

9. Could be worse

What if he'd had hemorrhoids?

(Although, seriously, I almost lost my left hand due to MRSA caught at the hospital four years ago).

[KamaAina]

10. Oh, great. My stepsister lives in nearby Bonita.

And frequently takes her dog to the beach.

[malaise]

11. My parents first rule after beach or river trips was

to make us bathe and shampoo - mom insisted that after showering we wiped our bodies with a Dettol (Savlon works in the US) or peroxide solution to kill any bacteria.