Page 129 - South Mississippi Living - June, 2024

story by John N. Felsher
The Vibrio Vulnificus bacteria live in warm coastal waters. It can cause illness when an open wound is exposed to coastal waters or
when a person eats contaminated seafood.
and healthy with no signs of infection.
“More than half of the cases are due to water
exposure,” the doctor says. “People with open wounds should not let that wound come in contact with salt water, particularly during the summer and especially if the person has a weakened immune system. A person doesn’t necessarily have to go in the water with an obvious open wound to get it. Some cases are due to exposure to the water itself.”
If someone contracts the disease through an open wound, that person would see swelling and redness
in the affected area as well as suffer pain and fever. Their blood pressure could drop or they could become delirious. If these symptoms occur, get to a hospital immediately. Alert medical personnel about the suspected cause so they know what to treat. Without
rapid proper treatment, a person could lose a limb or die.
“If a person just has a scratch on the leg, I don’t think that person necessarily needs to get checked out,” Brock remarks. “However, a person who starts developing signs of infection definitely needs to get checked out properly. It’s very important for anybody who gets the skin infection to seek care quickly. The sooner someone gets on antibiotics, the better. It’s rapidly progressive. The skin condition will get worse. Within 12 to 24 hours,
it might affect the whole limb. Within 24 to 36 hours, people often have sepsis and organ failure.”
The Centers For Disease Control and Prevention estimates that vibriosis causes 80,000 illnesses each year in the United States. For more information see www.cdc.gov/vibrio.
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