Flesh Eating Disease; How To Know If You Have Necrotizing Fasciitis

Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial skin infection, also commonly referred to as flesh-eating bacteria or flesh-eating disease, that spreads incredibly fast and kills soft tissue. Multiple bacteria can cause this condition. They include Aeromonas hydrophilia, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Clostridium, and Klebsiella. According to public health officials, the most common bacteria causing necrotizing fasciitis is group A Streptococcus.

It is essential to understand necrotizing fasciitis, as even though this is quite the rare disease, it can be deadly within a short period. With this in mind, read to discover important facts about this disease, including information on symptoms and how doctors can treat it.

Onset Of Initial Symptoms Is Quick

Patients often begin to experience symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis within as little as a few hours after the point of infection. Unfortunately, the beginning symptoms also appear confusing and may seem like another illness, such as the flu, and include a sore throat, nausea, stomach and body aches, a high fever, and chills. Patients may also experience symptoms similar to that of a pulled muscle, and notice redness or tenderness around the affected area. The point of infection is where the cut, scratch, or other injury occurred, but may also be a surgical or injection site.

Symptoms Progress Rapidly

Should necrotizing fasciitis progress to more advanced symptoms, the patient will continue to experience a high fever or even hypothermia as well as potential dehydration. The pain from the initially affected area will also become more constant and severe than the original injury might indicate. The infected area, which can spread at a rate of roughly one inch per hour, tends to appear red (may also turn purple or black), swollen, shiny, and hot to the touch. Skin necrosis occurs when blisters appear in the infected area. The pain from necrotizing fasciitis is excruciating, but another late symptom is a sudden improvement in pain, which often indicates the nerves are dying. At this point, patients may become delirious, dizzy, and weak. In the end stages, the patient’s vital organs will begin to shut down because of toxic shock, the skin will continue to blacken, and the patient will soon die.

Early Treatment Is Critical

Due to the rapid progression of necrotizing fasciitis as well as how deadly the infection can become, early treatment is critical. Thus, patients with a wound - whether a cut or other injury or from surgery - who exhibit early symptoms should consult a doctor as soon as possible. It is better to be safe than sorry!

Though early treatment is critical, an accurate diagnosis may not come right away. Since necrotizing fasciitis is rare, doctors will often eliminate other possibilities first. The good news, however, is the patient will already be in the presence of a doctor when they reach the final diagnosis, so treatment can then begin immediately.

Antibiotics And Surgery Are The Keys To Treatment

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the two major parts of treatment for necrotizing fasciitis are antibiotics and surgical intervention. The doctor will administer strong antibiotics to the patients intravenously (through an IV). Since the antibiotics may not be able to reach all of the infected tissue given how necrotizing fasciitis destroys tissue and reduces blood flow, surgery often closely follows and is often critical in effectively curing the infection.

Surgery to treat necrotizing fasciitis is called surgical debridement, which means the doctor will surgically remove the dead and infected tissue. This allows healthy tissue to avoid becoming infected and to heal the previously infected area more effectively. Most patients will require more than one surgical debridement, often three with twelve to thirty-six hours between each, to remove all of the infected tissue. However, the timing and effectiveness of the initial debridement is the major indicator of the overall success in treating necrotizing fasciitis.

Necrotizing Fasciitis Is Rarely Contagious

Although necrotizing fasciitis is excruciating and will lead to death if not treated quickly and effectively, there is good news, which is that it is not always contagious. An infected patient is not likely to spread the infection to others; this is because the most common way of contracting necrotizing fasciitis is through broken skin, including through cuts, insect bites, puncture wounds, and surgical incisions. Even if an infected patient is near another individual with an injury, they are unlikely to pass along necrotizing fasciitis provided they do not touch the other individual, particularly close to the broken skin. However, it is important to note that coming into contact with items such as clothing or blankets that have been used by a person with necrotizing fasciitis can more easily spread the infection from one person to another.

Wound Care Is The Best Prevention

Cuts, injuries, and even surgeries are facts of life. The only thing individuals may be able to avoid is surgery, although the vast majority of the population will have at least one operation, even something minor, in their lifetime. This means caring for the wound is the best way to prevent necrotizing fasciitis or other skin infections.

Effective wound care includes keeping open wounds covered with clean and dry bandages until they have healed, treating all wounds as soon as possible, including minor cuts and scrapes, and avoiding swimming in pools, hot tubs, and lakes, with an open wound. Washing hands with soap and water isalso essential tostop the spread of bacteria and totake care of an injury. If washing is not possible, health professionals will recommend using alcohol-based hand sanitizers. Continue reading for information on those more at risk for contracting necrotizing fasciitis.

Health Conditions Compromising The Immune System: An Increased Risk

As stated previously, necrotizing fasciitis is rare, and the chances of those who have a healthy immune system and practice effective wound care when they have an open wound are quite low. The individuals most at risk of contracting necrotizing fasciitis have other health conditions compromising their body’s ability to fight off infections. These health conditions include cancer, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), diabetes, and kidney disease.

Those more at risk should pay even closer attention to the symptoms they may experience after an injury or surgery and keep their doctor well-informed of sudden changes and any concerns they might have. Remember, early treatment is critical.