Dover Woman Hospitalized with 'Flesh-Eating' Bacteria

A tiny cut on the arm from a barnacle was all it took for Dover’s Kathy Chutter to contract Vibrio vulnificus, which is known to some as the “flesh-eating bacteria.”

Chutter was out fishing in Cockroach Bay last week when the accident occurred. While she washed the cut, symptoms still appeared. By Monday she found herself facing down some serious symptoms, FOX News reported.

Chutter had to undergo surgery to remove infected skin from her arm and wound up spending her 62nd birthday in a Plant City hospital.

Vibrio vulnificus is a bacteria that thrives in Florida’s warm, salty waters. There have been about 14 reported cases of vibrio this summer with three reported deaths.

Based on the millions of visitors to the state’s beaches, the percentage of exposure to beach waters versus contracting vibrio is extremely low,” Maggie Hall, spokeswoman for the Pinellas County Health Department, said earlier this summer.

While Vibrio is known by some as “flesh-eating,” Hall said that’s a misnomer.

“There is no such medical term and the organism is not a Pac-man consuming pac-dots,” she said.

While most people who contract vibrio never show symptoms, those who do can suffer life-threatening complications. The common signs are vomiting, stomach cramps and diarrhea. That said, “in those with chronic liver disease, Vibrio vulnificus can cause a severe, or even fatal, illness. Symptoms are fever and chills, decreased blood pressure (septic shock), and blistering skin lesions,” Hall said.

The best protecting against Vibrio is to stay out of the water with open wounds, clean off any wounds thoroughly after exposure and avoid raw or undercooked seafood, which can also cause infection.

See Also:

• Florida’s ‘Flesh-Eating’ Bacteria: Myths Busted

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