Doctors at a New Orleans hospital are now caring for a woman who contracted flesh-eating bacteria after getting into the water at a local beach earlier this month.
Kelly Kohen Blomberg was surf fishing in the Gulf of Mexico on May 12 when she suffered a wound on her foot while trying to change her position. She became alarmed when the wound wouldn't stop bleeding.
After cleaning her wound, Blomberg went to see a doctor the following day and she was given antibiotics.
However, her wound still wouldn't heal properly even after a week of treatment and caused dead tissue to form around it.
The minor scratches she initially sustained on her foot started to develop into deep wounds, forcing doctors to operate on her in order to remove damaged tissue and carry out a skin graft.
According to Dr. Obinna Nnedu, an infectious disease expert at the Ochsner Medical Center, Blomberg had contracted an extremely virulent form of flesh-eating bacteria known as vibrio vulnificus.
Nnedu said this microorganism can infect the body by getting through open wounds of people who swim in salt water areas such as in Louisiana's southern coast. It can also be contracted by eating uncooked oysters that may have already been contaminated.
People who contract vibrio vulnificus often develop signs of infection within four to six hours following their exposure. Symptoms include redness and swelling of affected body parts as well as high fever.
Those who have liver disease, high levels of iron, or weak immune systems can develop serious cases of vibrio vulnificus infection, which could lead to death, as in the case of a man from Florida.
Nnedu said the flesh-eating bacteria can infect anyone, but only a small fraction of afflicted people progress into severe outcomes.
While Blomberg is still undergoing continued treatment, she is starting to show improvements on her status. She said the swelling has subsided, allowing her wound to begin to heal.
She has also offered a word of caution to other people who might encounter the same predicament she had.
"I've always been in a boat whenever I went fishing, but if you are going to do surf fishing, wear shoes," Blomberg said. "Go to the hospital as soon as you can if anything is starting to happen."
