Two people have been diagnosed in a Galway hospital over the past 10 days from a very serious but rare infection often referred to as the flesh-eating disease.
However, the HSE (Health Service Executive) Western Area (formerly the Western Health Board) said there was no reason at present to believe there was a threat to public health as a result of the two cases.
The patients, one from Galway and one from outside the county but within the west of Ireland, both died at University College Hospital Galway. Necrotising fasciitis is an infection that strikes deep under the skin and in the tissues around muscles.
In the case of both patients, laboratory examinations had detected bacteria in their tissues, commonly called group A streptococcus, which are known to cause necrotising fasciitis.
A spokeswoman for the health board said group A streptococcus was a common bacteria which caused infections such as sore or strep throat and impetigo.
She said: "Ten to 15 per cent of people may carry group A streptococcus in their throat and have no symptoms. It is not known why some people develop such a serious infection as necrotising fasciitis with a common bacteria while others have no symptoms whatsoever.
"Group A streptococcus is normally spread through close, personal contact with an infected person.
"It is extremely unlikely that other family members or neighbours or health care workers will develop necrotising fasciitis following contact with a patient." She added that there was no reason to believe there was a threat to public health.
Necrotising fasciitis is a rare but devastating condition, affecting perhaps three to seven people per million of the population per year.
It is a rapidly progressive bacterial infection of the soft tissues and generally attacks the walls of the abdomen, the perineum, the limbs and, to a lesser degree, the cranio-cervical area.
While most major teaching hospitals would expect to care for patients with this condition from time to time, the HSE Western Area spokeswoman said it was somewhat unusual to have two such patients in a short space of time.
"As a precaution, the bacteria from both of these patients have been sent to an expert reference laboratory for additional studies," she said.
