Flesh-eating germ kills woman in three days

MSNBC ^ | March 9, 2006 | AP

[SUSSA]

DUNN, N.C. - North Carolina health officials are investigating the death of a woman who died last week of a flesh-eating bacteria three days after accidentally jamming her hand in a wheelchair while working at a nursing home.

Nursing assistant Sharron Bishop, 44, died Feb. 27. A doctor said a rare flesh-eating bacteria may have entered her body through a thumb injury and she turned from healthy to fatally ill.

(snip)

Sharon Bishop complained on Feb. 24 about a swollen thumb. She had jammed it at work and worried that she had dislocated it. David Bishop took her to Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital, where doctors gave her pain medication and sent her home.

The swelling got worse. By the morning of Feb. 27, her arm was twice as large as normal and looked like it would burst, David Bishop said. Fluid leaked from her elbow and wrist. She complained of terrific pain.

(snip)

Dunn physician Abraham Oudeh diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis, an infection that destroys tissue.

Doctors at UNC Hospitals that evening tried to stop the spreading infection by amputating her arm at the clavicle and removing all the muscle and tissue around her left breast, torso and thigh in a futile effort to save her life.

[SUSSA]

Dear Lord, I'm sorry for you and her.

[null and void]

hopspital=hospital....fat fingers!

Fat fingers. That was her first symptom...

[Vinnie]

As I understand gum bacteria may be implicated in the plaques and 'lesions' in the exterior blood vessels .

[mel]

Interesting, I will look up more info on that. There are just a lot of things that can be used for different ailments that the big drug companies go to great extremes to hide from consumers. I adore Dr. Gott's articles. I learned the use of CERTO for arthritis and Ivory soap for leg cramps from his columns. Really works.
Also, absolutely no need to spend hundreds of dollars for antifungal treatment for nail fungus (besides money has a lot of adverse effects), just use Vaseline or vinegar. Maybe we should start a post on useful home remedies.

[deaconjim]

Thank you all for your sympathy.

My wife was a diabetic suffering from kidney failure, and was on dialysis. The disease that she had was a very rare (thankfully) condition that only affects dialysis patients, and is not bacterial in nature.

[COEXERJ145]

Something similar happened to a well known jeweler in my town. He stepped on something that left the staph bacteria in his foot and he was dead in less than 72 hours.

[freedumb2003]

*yeeww*

[armymarinemom]

I wish they would have mentioned staph or strep.

[hellinahandcart]

It's strep A, according to the rest of the article at the website.

[Palladin]

>>>Makes you want to carry around a package of antiseptic wipes, doesn't it?<<<

Adrian Monk is not so crazy after all.

[derllak]

Ugh, that's heartbreaking. I'm sorry she had to go through that, it sounds so horrible! :(

[djf]

Trouble with keeping everything ultraclean, is your immune system gets depressed.

Then, any limp wristed half azzed bacteria that comes along can take ya to the cleaners!

[moondoggie]

My husband had it in 1984.

Took 42 days and TEN surgeries but he survived....thank goodness.

[Quix]

So, it's not OCD to carry around a jar of Clorox wipes in my back pack and some individual packet of wetwipes in my fanny pack?

LOL.

Overseas in certain . . . regions . . . it was a wise habit. Haven't changed it given all the givens. Besides, keeping my hands cleaner has lessened the number of colds I get. Given their frequent trek into pneumonia, it became a serious issue.

I do now use oil of oregano.

Anyone know of a solution for beneath the skin fungus or some such from the orient? The usual creams seem to dent it minorly and that after a month of application. And they're not cheap. Terribly itchy--on feet, toes, calves, hands, fingers, forearms. If I scratch vigorously, skin layers come apart easily. Chinese Dad MD insists it's a fungus.

Someone said Vicks works topically. Have been reluctant as I don't enjoy the smell but willing to try it after this month's application of generic Clotrimazole cream. But would really like something that wasn't so horribly expensive as so many of the creams are given so much skin area.

Soneone said eating lettuce only for a month would do it. Doesn't sound like fun either.

[Panzerlied]

The medical term for this type of infection is Necrotizing Fasciitis. Since this doesn't sound dramatic the MSM refers to it as "FLESH EATING BACTERIA!" If you want details go to http://www.emedicine.com/EMERG/topic332.htm.

The single most important statement in this whole article is this: "In the US: Since 1883, more than 500 cases have been reported in the literature."

IMHO, the disease is rare, well understood and eminently treatable. The biggest problem occurs when it is misdiagnosed and proper treatment is not begun in a timely fashion.

[armymarinemom]

Thanks. I have seen some cases of strep A do some horrible damage from very minor injuries.

[MeekMom]

What a poor lady.
God bless her and her family.
She was doing Godly work and was killed because of it.
Very sad indeed.

God bless her eternally.

[SUSSA]

thanks

[SUSSA]

That has to be terrible! Glad he's OK now

[TheLion]

You are right, imo. We sterilize everything we can and it kills off the less harmful bacteria and the resistant strains have nothing to stop them.