Vibrio vulnificus

[Guest guest]

Hi Annie,

     When I said you could have died I was thinking of infections with this

bacteria.  Is this what the hospital said you had?  Then you are indeed lucky. 

I have pasted info from Wikipedia.------   Rochelle

 

Vibrio vulnificus causes an infection often incurred after eating seafood,

especially oysters; the bacteria can also enter the body through open wounds

when swimming or wading in infected waters,[2] or via puncture wounds from the

spines of fish such as tilapia. Symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal

pain, and a blistering dermatitis that is sometimes mistaken for pemphigus or

pemphigoid. Severe symptoms and even death can occur if the bacterium enters the

bloodstream—something more common in people with compromised immune systems or

liver disease.[3]

[edit] Treatment

Vibrio vulnificus infection has a mortality rate of 50% with the majority of

patients dying within the first 48 hours of infection. The optimal treatment is

not known, but in one retrospective study of 93 patients in Taiwan, use of a

third-generation cephalosporin and a tetracycline (e.g., ceftriaxone and

doxycycline) were associated with an improved outcome.[4] Prospective clinical

trials are needed to confirm this finding, but in vitro data supports the

supposition that this combination is synergistic against Vibrio vulnificus.

Vibrio vulnificus often causes large, disfiguring ulcers which require extensive

debridement or even amputation.

[edit] Prognosis

The worst prognosis is in those patients who arrive at hospital in a state of

shock. Total mortality in treated patients is around 33%.[4]

Those patients who are especially vulnerable, including those with

immunocompromised states (cancer, bone marrow suppression, HIV, diabetes, etc.)

With these cases, V. vulnificus usually enters the bloodstream, where it may

cause fever and chills, septic shock (with sharply decreased blood pressure),

and blistering skin lesions.[5] According to the CDC, about half of those who

contract blood infections die.

Vibrio vulnificus infections also disproportionately affect males; 85% of those

who develop endotoxic shock from the bacteria are male. Females who have had an

oophorectomy experienced increased mortality rates, as estrogen is believed to

have a protective effect against V. vulnificus.[6]