Flesh-eating disease not limited to Gulf Coast

Necrotizing fasciitis, a.k.a. flesh-eating disease, has been in the headlines recently after being linked to illness or death in people who’ve recently been to the beach. The illness, which can be caused by more than one type of bacteria, isn’t only at the beach. It can happen anywhere and potentially can result in sepsis, shock, organ failure, loss of limbs or scarring and death.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one in three people will die from the disease even with treatment.

“It usually starts out as a simple skin infection but rapidly progresses to what we call a flesh-eating disease. It actually does start destroying tissue,” said Dr. Matt Young, physician owner/medical director of Texarkana Emergency Center.

Most of the time necrotizing fasciitis starts with a break in the skin due to a cut, burn, puncture wound, insect bite or surgical wound but it can occur in people who haven’t had a break in the skin. Symptoms begin with a red or swollen area of skin, severe pain and fever. They can quickly progress to ulcers, black spots or blisters, pus or an infected area that oozes, dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea or nausea, according to the CDC.

It’s important for people to be aware of the symptoms because the infection spreads quickly and can result in death in a matter of hours.

“Someone may go in and see their primary provider, go to the ER or an urgent care clinic and get diagnosed with cellulitis (bacterial skin infection). Most of us are able to get antibiotics that will take care of it but a good provider will always tell the patient if it gets worse to come back as soon as possible,” Young said. “If it gets more swollen,

more painful or there’s increasing redness then you need to see someone quick. … It can be deadly within hours.”

People with certain medical conditions are more at risk of developing necrotizing fasciitis including those with diabetes, kidney disease, cirrhosis and cancer.

“What we commonly see is that most of the time it’s in elderly, diabetic patients,” he said.

Treatment is aggressive.

“The big difference in treatment with necrotizing fasciitis is we know we need to put them on a broad spectrum of several antibiotics as soon as it becomes obvious. Again, it’s not always obvious. … Maybe more important than antibiotics is getting them to surgical debridement which helps get the bacteria out of the body and get rid of the destructive tissue. Unfortunately that destruction can be limb threatening. If it gets in someone’s blood system and makes them septic, it can be deadly,” Young said.

The take-home message is people need to be proactive about treatment.

“If a patient does not feel their condition is improving the way a normal skin infection should, they need to get reevaluated. Even good wound care and antibiotics don’t prevent necrotizing fasciitis from occurring. It’s an unfortunately disease that can happen even when everything is done properly,” he said.

The CDC recommends good wound care to help prevent skin infections including:

■ Clean all minor cuts and injuries that break the skin with soap and water.

■ Clean and cover draining or open wounds with clean, dry bandages until they’ve healed.

■ Get medical care for puncture and other deep wounds.

■ Wash hands often with soap and water.

■ Care for fungal infections like athlete’s foot.

■ People should avoid hot tubs, swimming pools and natural bodies of water if they have an open wound.