Flesh-Eating Bacteria Symptoms

Necrotizing soft tissue infections can be deadly without immediate care. Here's what you should know and do about flesh-eating bacteria symptoms.

What is flesh-eating bacteria?

Flesh-eating bacteria is a popular name for necrotizing fasciitis, a skin infection that causes your soft tissue to die rapidly.

There is no single type of flesh-eating bacteria. Many bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis, though most of them also cause milder diseases. Some of these bacteria include Vibrio, Staphylococcus aureus (staph), Klebsiella, and E. Coli. The most common type of flesh-eating bacteria is group A Streptococcus, or group A strep.

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What causes flesh-eating bacteria?

In most cases, the bacteria do not cause necrotizing fasciitis. When they enter an open wound or burn, however, the bacteria can cause deadly infections. You can also ingest some types of flesh-eating bacteria when they contaminate the water in which shellfish live. Eating contaminated shellfish can cause necrotizing fasciitis.

No matter how flesh-eating bacteria enters your body, they can release toxins that cut off the blood supply to tissue, causing it to die and preventing your immune system from fighting the infection with white blood cells. When that happens, you develop necrotizing fasciitis, and the infection spreads quickly.

Medical treatment is the only way to stop an infection. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that treatment should happen as quickly as possible due to the rapid rate at which flesh eating bacteria can spread throughout your body.

Necrotizing fasciitis is treated with antibiotics to stop the spread of the infection. Dead tissue may have to be removed. In some cases, you may need extensive surgery. If left untreated, infections from flesh-eating bacteria can lead to organ failure, toxic shock syndrome, blood poisoning, and death.

Necrotizing soft tissue infections

Another name for necrotizing fasciitis, the disease caused by flesh-eating bacteria, is necrotizing soft tissue infection, or NSTI. It refers to any type of bacterial infection that causes the death of soft tissue, such as skin or organs.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a specific type of NSTI that affects the fascia, the tissue that surrounds the nerves, blood cells, muscles, and fat in your body. Medical researchers often use necrotizing soft tissue infection as an umbrella term, but you are more likely to see the news industry use the phrase “flesh-eating bacteria” to describe the disease.

Am I in danger from flesh-eating bacteria?

Most people who are infected already have compromised or weakened immune systems. This includes people who have just had surgery, the very elderly, or those with conditions such as cancer, kidney disease, or type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

It is also highly unlikely that you will ever catch the bacteria from someone who is already infected. Necrotizing fasciitis does not spread directly from person to person.

There are times when multiple flesh-eating bacteria infections occur in a single geographic region, such as after a hurricane in southern states.

To prevent infections from flesh-eating bacteria, you should avoid swimming when you have open cuts or scrapes. If you have open wounds, especially if you are in a medical facility, wash your hands frequently and keep your injury clean and covered with sterilized bandages. Avoid eating raw or undercooked shellfish, such as oysters, and always wear gloves if preparing shellfish yourself.

If there are ever reports of the bacteria in your area, you should follow guidelines that public health officials release to avoid infection.

Flesh-eating bacteria symptoms

If you are worried that you may have been exposed to dangerous bacteria, look for these flesh-eating bacteria symptoms.

If you have open wounds or sores, you will experience excessive pain at the site of the injury, along with red or purple discoloration and swelling. Your skin may feel hot to the touch.

Other symptoms will occur as the disease progresses, including:

• Vomiting or diarrhea
• Fever or chills
• Skin discoloration, including red or black bumps spreading out from a wound
• Pus or a smelly grey fluid leaking from a wound
• Ulcers or open sores
• Numbness or tingling around an injury
• Severe pain
• Fatigue, lightheadedness, or confusion

Symptoms usually begin quickly after exposure, but in some cases you may not notice signs of an infection for several days.

If you have symptoms, seek medical help immediately. Rapid care is the only way to treat the condition successfully.

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