Four fatalities reported from deadly flesh-eating bacteria in Florida

AccuWeather

Dr. Aileen Marty of Florida International University explains the dangers of vibrio, a deadly flesh-eating bacteria that thrives in warm waters, which has already claimed four lives in Florida.

Transcript

00:00It's a serious situation this time of years. Four people in Florida have died from a rare

00:05flesh-eating bacteria that's found in warm coastal waters. What should you know to stay safe?

00:11So here to help us learn a little bit more perspective on this is Dr. Eileen Marty,

00:15infectious disease expert and professor at Florida International University. Doc,

00:20thanks so much for joining us. This is an important topic.

00:23Yes, it is. This is a serious bacterial infection and it is a bacterium that lives in warm waters

00:33and it proliferates when the water becomes warmer. So every year there tends to be an increase in the

00:42concentration because of the warming of the water during the spring, summer, and fall. And therefore

00:50every year we see cases of Vibrio, but the cases have been increasing in recent years

00:59as the entire planet has become warmer. And this is particularly poignant in the northern hemisphere

01:07where temperatures are rising at a faster rate than they are in the southern hemisphere.

01:13And so we're seeing these Vibrio vulnificus outbreaks going further, further north in the

01:21United States, as far north as Connecticut. And we've even seen some cases of a very similar

01:27bacterium, Vibrio parahemolyticus, as far north as Alaska. Wow. All right. So you've described

01:35regionally who's most at risk. Any other specifics for people who may be most at risk?

01:40Sure. You have to have two things into consideration. First is how does that bacteria

01:47enter your body and cause the disease? And there's two main ways. One is if you enter salty or brackish

01:56water in a time when the, first of all, it's warm and you have some kind of a cut or in your skin,

02:05you definitely want to put a bandage over that cut that's waterproof. If you're going to go in the

02:09water and you have a cut or if you have eczema so that your skin barrier isn't as protected as

02:17normally. That's one of the key ways that it gets in through the water. And we see a lot of these

02:22types of problems when there are hurricanes and other storms that bring brackish water to more places

02:29and allow for more of these bacteria to concentrate in certain water areas. The second way, and this

02:38is a worldwide way in which people get infected with the same bacteria and can have the same or similar

02:43symptoms, is if they eat raw or undercooked shellfish, especially oysters. Oysters are a phenomenal way of

02:53transmitting Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahemolyticus and many other diseases. I tend to tell my patients I

03:03prefer eating my parasites cooked. So I would shy away from uncooked or undercooked sea products in general. Now, what other

03:14factors are in here? Well, other factors include underlying conditions. So the risk of the contamination

03:23getting into your body and then causing this sort of horrific flesh eating disease go up if you have

03:32liver problems, diabetes, and a number of other underlying conditions. So if you have underlying conditions,

03:41you have to be especially worried of those two sources by which you can get infected.

03:48And doc, what are some of the symptoms? If somebody thinks that they may have been exposed through a

03:52wound or raw seafood, what should they do right away? So first of all, it's really important that you tell

04:00your doctor that you suspect that you were exposed because this is not a bacterium that is routinely tested

04:08for. And you have to have appropriate antibiotic therapy as quickly as possible. So if you've been

04:17in brackish water or salt water that's potentially contaminated and you had a wound and now this wound

04:24starts to fester, the lesion looks very, it very rapidly changes and can spread and get into your

04:33blood and contaminate your system so that you become septic very, very rapidly. So go see a healthcare

04:40provider immediately and tell them that you've been exposed. If on the other hand, you acquired the bacterium

04:48because you consumed oysters or other undercooked shellfish, in that case, you may begin with the usual, I don't feel good,

05:00it's nausea, just sort of a sense of unease. And that's can be a little bit trickier. So

05:09the bacterium can then get into again your bloodstream and lead to the types of lesions,

05:17the same types of lesions that you would have gotten had to come in under a wound. And so if you

05:24start to have, you know, skin manifestations and these gastrointestinal things, immediately do not

05:32pass go, go right to see a healthcare provider and tell them about your concern so that they can quickly

05:39test and quickly put you on the right antimicrobials.

05:43We appreciate that. So in-depth here as people spend a lot of time in the water here or maybe

05:49enjoying some seafood for the rest of this summer season. Dr. Lee Marty, infectionist,

05:53disease expert and professor at Florida International University. We appreciate you for joining us on

05:59AccuWeather Early. Yeah, great information.

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