2024-10-24 10:12:00
Health authorities in Florida (United States) warned this Wednesday against an “unusual increase” in infections due to deadly bacterium <a href="https://time.news/first-vibrio-sepsis-demise-this-12-months-cooked-clams-and-shrimp-needs-to-be-eaten/" title="First Vibrio sepsis demise this 12 months… Cooked clams and shrimp needs to be eaten”>Vibrio vulnificusknown as “meat eater‘, in the waters off the state’s west coast due to the recent passage of Hurricane Helene.
As of Tuesday, the number of confirmed cases of Vibrio vulnificus in that state stood at 74 and deaths totaled 13, according to the Florida Department of Health in the information collected by the Efe agency.
Several counties on Florida’s west coast have experienced a “unusual increase“of infections due to the impact of Hurricane Helene last September, which caused torrential rains and caused very damaging storm surges in that area, indicates the same department.
Through cuts or small wounds in the skin
The bacterium Vibrio vulnificus is usually found in warm coastal waters and can enter them blood flow through cuts and scrapes on the skin, but also through seafood intake contaminated without any type of cooking, for example by eating raw oysters.
Vibro Vulnificus infections are uncommon, but can be fatal for older adults and people with chronic conditions related to the immune system.
According to estimates by Cleveland Clinicevery year they report between 100 and 200 cases of contagion by “flesh-eating” bacteria in the United States.
High mortality rate
Him National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) indicates that the vulnerable population has a mortality rate of 33%.
“Him increase in sea temperature It is a fertile ground for the proliferation of various microorganisms, including bacteria of the genus Vibrio, a group of pathogens that cause diseases such as vibriosis or cholera. Of all of them, ‘Vibrio vulnificus’ it is one of those that cause the most damage”, explains the aforementioned medium.
If you consume any contaminated seafood or someone bathes in a infected surfacea pathogen can enter through an open cut or small wound, especially in immunosuppressed patients or the elderly. From there it spreads throughout the body, which can lead to cases of sepsis which can be fatal.
The highest number of infections
Although infections caused by Vibrio vulnificus are rare, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), one in three people who become infected with this bacterium die.
In the last decade, 2022, with 74 recorded cases, and 2024, with the same number until this Tuesday, represent the highest number of infections.
For all these reasons, health authorities recommend not diving in the sea or brackish water if you have “recent cuts or scrapes” and that people with weak immune systems take extreme precautions, wearing sandals or slippers on the beach, especially during climbing rocks, as well as refraining from eating raw shellfish, especially oysters.
What is known about this bacterium?
“If a Vibrio vulnificus infection is suspected, treatment should be initiated treatment immediately because antibiotics improve the chances of survival,” Florida health authorities warn on their website.
Second ‘National geographic‘, is a microorganism that thrives warm and brackish waters which can enter the bloodstream through cuts and small wounds in the skin, but also through seafood intake contaminated without any type of cooking, for example by eating raw oysters.
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