Man licked by his dog dead within weeks

Bacteria in the saliva of healthy dogs and cats

The 63-year-old man showed up in the hospital with a burning sensation in his left leg and muscle pain in both. His flu-like symptoms were severe, with laboured breathing for three days. He had round spots on the skin that look like rashes as a result of bleeding capillaries, which made his legs look discoloured.

The patient’s heartbeat was stable, doctors said, even though he had a temperature of 39C. His belaboured breathing caused an inadequate supply of oxygen to his tissue. His failing kidneys were not producing urine.

But doctors had no idea what was wrong with him. They suspected some kind of bacteria, but he didn’t have any open wounds and he didn’t have meningitis.

It wasn’t until his fourth day in hospital that a blood test revealed he had a type of bacteria found in the saliva of healthy dogs and cats, and usually only transmitted to humans if they are bitten.

But the German man is dead because his dog merely licked him.

A paper published in the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine details how the otherwise healthy man lost his life within weeks of being infected.

Doctors determined he had severe kidney injury, and rhabdomyolysis, a deterioration of muscle tissue that can result in kidney failure. He also had a buildup of lactic acid in his bloodstream.

Once he was transferred to ICU, he was diagnosed with severe sepsis with skin death and blood clotting.

He was treated with antibiotics, but he just got worse over the next 30 hours.

Brain disease, intestinal blockage caused by paralysis, blood clotting and kidney failure wrecked his body, doctors wrote. The man entered cardiac arrest and was successfully resuscitated, but he was then intubated and placed on a breathing machine.

He was also treated for low blood pressure.

Medical staff gave him red blood cells, transfused platelets and fresh, frozen plasma. They started kidney dialysis.

After they ran the test that finally showed the C.

canimorsus infection, doctors added another antibiotic and an anti-fungal treatment to his medical routine as some of his afflictions waned and others worsened. The treatment was too late.

Toward the end of his life, all his extremities had gangrene and a CT scan showed he had severe brain swelling with a lack of oxygen.

He died after 16 days of care.

Researchers noted that C. canimorsus infections are rare, with a range of symptoms. Most patients who have had severe or fatal infections from the bacteria have had immune, spleen or alcohol abuse issues, but this patient’s medical history didn’t indicate any such ailments.