A MAN has died in Beaumont, Hospital, Dublin, from infections' with the "flesh eating bug", necrotising fasciitis, according to the Irish Medical News.
The 73 year old man was admitted to hospital complaining of confusion, left sided weakness and incontinence. A CT scan showed a right sided lesion, he was given oral steroids and a biopsy was taken for examination.
Within 24 hours his condition had worsened dramatically. He had a swollen red eye, and the swelling was spreading on the right side of his face. He was transferred to the operating theatre, where necrotising fasciitis was diagnosed and surgery decided against in view of the poor prognosis.
The man died 16 hours later in the intensive care unit. Swabs revealed Group A gram positive streptococci, the bacterium linked to the disease.
Details of the case were written up by Drs D.G.L. McCoy, J. Fitzgerald and R. Dwyer, and presented to a meeting of the Irish Society of Clinical Microbiologists.
This is believed to be the first death from the disease in Ireland, while an outbreak in Britain in 1994 killed 11 people. Then it either went away, or the media tired of it.
Necrotising Jasciitis attracted widespread media attention. It grows out of bacteria which are commonly present in the human population it can attack apparently healthy people its initial symptoms a sore throat swelling could indicate a wide range of illnesses it proceeds rapidly, requiring urgent treatment with antibiotics and/or surgery or amputation if it is not to lead to a quick and painful death.
The 11 people who died in Britain in 1994 were all distinct and unlinked, according to Prof Cyril Smythe, Professor of Microbiology in Trinity College Dublin, who spoke to The Irish Times at the time. Specialists around the world were noticing a slight rise in the reported figures for the disease in countries as tar apart as the US and Germany.
It, or something like it, was a common killer in the 19th century, but was brought under control by sulphur and, later, penicillin.
The only other case reported in Ireland recently was that of a young married father of three from Co Kildare, who returned from a camping trip with his children complaining of a sore leg.
Within 24 hours he had developed diarrhoea and vomiting, and had become confused. He was sent to Blanchardstown Hospital where his wife was told he was dying, but the doctors did not know from what.
He was operated on and pumped full of antibiotics, although he was not expected to live. Eventually they diagnosed the bacterium and aimed the medication at it specifically, and the man recovered, very slowly.