In recent years, there has been an increase in patients infected with Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium that can cause a fatal infection, increasing the concern of experts
According to a recent announcement from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), citizens and clinicians should be aware of the increased risk of Vibrio vulnificus infection due to rising water temperatures and extreme weather phenomena related to climate change. The Doctors of the Therapeutic Clinic of the School of Medicine of the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Theodora Psaltopoulou (Professor of Epidemiology and Preventive Medicine), Yannis Danasis summarize the recent publication of Emily Harris in the prestigious scientific review of the American Medical Association JAMA.
The number of people infected with Vibrio vulnificus, which causes about 150 to 200 reported cases annually in the U.S., has increased in the eastern part of the country since 1988. Most people become infected when the bacteria, which thrives in warm, salty and brackish water, come into contact with an open wound. However, about 10% of cases are due to eating raw or undercooked shellfish. Vibrio vulnificus wound infections have a short incubation period and are characterized by necrotizing skin and soft tissue infection, with or without hemorrhagic elements. Many people with Vibrio vulnificus wound infection require intensive care or surgical removal of tissue. A total of up to 20% of people diagnosed with Vibrio vulnificus infection in the US die after the infection. Human-to-human transmission has not been reported.
Last July and August, Vibrio vulnificus infections in East Coast states including Connecticut, New York and North Carolina led to several deaths. According to the CDC, people at higher risk, such as those with underlying medical conditions (immunosuppression, diabetes mellitus, liver disease), should be extra cautious during activities in coastal waters, particularly near the Gulf of Mexico or the Eastern Seaboard. Coast.
Clinicians should include Vibrio vulnificus as possible causes of infection in patients with open wounds exposed to coastal waters. If Vibrio vulnificus infection is highly suspected, they should act quickly to start antibiotic therapy and perform early surgery, which may even include amputation, to improve the patient's chance of survival.
