Severe 'flesh-eating' infections tied to heat waves in eastern US, CDC reports

[Judi Lynn]

By Nicoletta Lanese
published 1 day ago

Scientists investigated flesh-eating infections that took place after record-breaking heat waves in the U.S. last year.

In the wake of record-breaking heat waves in the summer of 2023, three East Coast states saw upticks in severe, "flesh-eating" infections, a new report says. The report concerns Vibrio vulnificus, a deadly bacterial species that lives in coastal waters. If the microbe enters an open wound, it can lead to a "flesh-eating" infection known as necrotizing fasciitis. This is a severe, inflamed infection that causes the surrounding tissue to rapidly die.

If ingested — for example, in raw or undercooked seafood — the same bacteria can cause gastrointestinal infection. This commonly leads to symptoms of watery diarrhea, vomiting and fever, but it can also lead to sepsis, the extreme immune response that can progress to life-threatening septic shock.

V. vulnificus is known to thrive in warm water, and between June and August 2023, the U.S. experienced widespread heat waves and above-average sea surface temperatures. Around that time, in July and August, Connecticut, New York and North Carolina reported a number of severe V. vulnificus infections, according to a new Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Thursday (Feb. 1).

Related: The link between climate change and 'flesh-eating' bacteria

"A notable feature of these cases, beyond their severe clinical outcomes, is that they occurred in the wake of record-breaking U.S. heat waves," the report says. The cases can't be attributed solely to the heat waves, but the link between infections with Vibrio bacteria, like V. vulnificus, and environmental conditions that are favorable to the microbe's growth "is well-documented," the report adds.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/health/viruses-infections-disease/severe-flesh-eating-infections-tied-to-heat-waves-in-eastern-us-cdc-reports

[C Moon]

1. Edit: Never mind my comment...I read the article and some caught it from seafood. Eeeek.

[no_hypocrisy]

2. I was told not to eat raw oysters for that reason.

[callous taoboy]

3. Buddy of mine got it wade fishing near Rockport, Tx.

He had a nick on his shin from weed-whacking. Water breached his hip waders, got in the wound, started stinging and getting intense quickly. He pulled the waders off and the area around the wound was already looking bad, and he suspected the worst. His buddies got him to a clinic that has a unit devoted to vibrio. He was in that unit for a long time, nearly lost his leg, was headed toward organ failure at one point. He made it, but it was a long recovery. He showed me the pics and you could see bone.