Woman Dies of Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Reject_Bunnies · 03-09-2006, 07:30 PM

N.C. Woman Dies of Flesh-Eating Bacteria
Associated Press

North Carolina health officials are investigating the death of a woman who died last week of a flesh-eating bacteria three days after accidentally jamming her hand in a wheelchair while working at a nursing home.

Nursing assistant Sharron Bishop, 44, died Feb. 27. A doctor said a rare flesh-eating bacteria may have entered her body through a thumb injury and she turned from healthy to fatally ill.

The culprit was a rare invasive form of group A streptococcal bacteria, said Debbie Crane, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Health and Human Services. The noninvasive form is widespread and is commonly known for causing strep throat, she said.

"It's kind of like getting bitten by a shark or struck by lightning," she said. "It's not something that spreads to the community."

North Carolina gets about 125 reports of the invasive form of strep annually, and about 10 percent are fatal, she said.

David Bishop said doctors at UNC Hospitals, where Sharron Bishop died, have told him it's impossible to know how his wife contracted the rare infection.

"The UNC doctors said she could have picked it up at the gas station, at the grocery store, anywhere," he said. "We will never know."

Sharon Bishop complained on Feb. 24 about a swollen thumb. She had jammed it at work and worried that she had dislocated it. David Bishop took her to Betsy Johnson Regional Hospital, where doctors gave her pain medication and sent her home.

The swelling got worse. By the morning of Feb. 27, her arm was twice as large as normal and looked like it would burst, David Bishop said. Fluid leaked from her elbow and wrist. She complained of terrific pain.

Dunn physician Abraham Oudeh diagnosed necrotizing fasciitis, an infection that destroys tissue.

Doctors at UNC Hospitals that evening tried to stop the spreading infection by amputating her arm at the clavicle and removing all the muscle and tissue around her left breast, torso and thigh in a futile effort to save her life.

Harnett County Health Director John Rouse Jr. said Bishop's was one of two confirmed cases of the bacteria that his office investigated in recent days after being notified by state health authorities. He said he believed the other woman, whom he also did not identify, knew Bishop.

Rouse said it would be impossible to determine whether they passed the bacteria to each other. Rouse said the other woman is recovering.

[And in other news...]
Dead man spends days unnoticed on highway

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (Reuters) - An elderly man spent at least three days in his vehicle on the side of a busy Canadian highway before anyone - including police who checked the car's license plate - realized he was dead.

A passing motorist discovered the man's body after deciding to check the vintage-model car on the Trans-Canada Highway near Abbotsford, British Columbia, on Sunday to see if it was for sale.

The car's license number was checked by passing police on Friday and Saturday to make sure it was not stolen, but the officers apparently did not stop to inspect it because it was not impeding traffic.

Officials believe the 75-year-old man became ill and pulled off to the side of highway, which is used by hundreds of Vancouver-area motorists each day. They say he then probably slumped down in his seat and died.

"A lot of people drove past that vehicle. It's just unfortunate that it took the circumstances that it did to find the gentleman," said Constable Steve Hiscoe of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.

The man's dog was also in the vehicle, but survived the ordeal unharmed.

DarkIce · 03-09-2006, 11:58 PM

I knew they exist. So I never want to meet this streptococcal bacteria.
If it´s not faster than you - RUN!

Cicero · 03-10-2006, 12:26 AM

Flesh eating bacteria... That's certainly what I want written on my tomb stone.

Shi'ark · 03-10-2006, 12:29 AM

All this talk of Flesh eating bacteria is making me hungry. Who up for pancakes?

Wise Child · 03-10-2006, 05:09 AM

My friend had it (or something vee similar). They ate his large intestine.

Seriously... he doesn't have one now.

Shi'ark · 03-10-2006, 05:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wise Child

My friend had it (or something vee similar). They ate his large intestine.

Seriously... he doesn't have one now.

Was that in the ‘outbreak’ that the media hyped up 10 years ago or did it happen more recently.
How’s your friend coping?

WolfMoon · 03-10-2006, 05:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Wise Child

My friend had it (or something vee similar). They ate his large intestine.

Seriously... he doesn't have one now.

Sounds like that sickness you can get from eating underdone pork.

ExistentialDisorder · 03-10-2006, 05:54 AM

This is kind'a scary, considering i live in SOUTH carolina... and i deal with the public on a daily basis. you have no idea how many times i've stuck my hand in or on something covered in somebody's bodily fluids, or some kid's spit. it's nausiating. and all i do is stock shelves. you have no idea the kinds of shit (litterally, in some cases) that people will shove behind products on a grocery store shelf. I find everything from half-eaten mcdonalds and other food and/or wrappers to snot rags. and not too long ago i found a used diaper rolled up behind the bread. WHO THE FUCK SHOVES A USED DIAPER BEHIND BREAD IN THE GROCERY STORE??? People are truly fucking disgusting. And just think about all the germs you pick up daily from dry surfaces that you don't even think about.

Wise Child · 03-10-2006, 06:17 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by WolfMoon

Sounds like that sickness you can get from eating underdone pork.

Nah, he was born with problems... as far as I know, pork is blameless.

Lady Ravenna · 03-10-2006, 08:11 AM

Thats kind of gross...*decides her ginger ale does not look as thirst- quenching as it did two minutes ago*

Black Widow · 03-10-2006, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExistentialDisorder

This is kind'a scary, considering i live in SOUTH carolina... and i deal with the public on a daily basis. you have no idea how many times i've stuck my hand in or on something covered in somebody's bodily fluids, or some kid's spit. it's nausiating. and all i do is stock shelves. you have no idea the kinds of shit (litterally, in some cases) that people will shove behind products on a grocery store shelf. I find everything from half-eaten mcdonalds and other food and/or wrappers to snot rags. and not too long ago i found a used diaper rolled up behind the bread. WHO THE FUCK SHOVES A USED DIAPER BEHIND BREAD IN THE GROCERY STORE??? People are truly fucking disgusting. And just think about all the germs you pick up daily from dry surfaces that you don't even think about.

Damn...that is pretty messed up. If I had a similar job, and I found a used diaper behind the bread, I would quit. That's disgusting.

ExistentialDisorder · 03-10-2006, 04:17 PM

i've seen pictures of people who've been infected with toxic strep, as it's more commonly called, and lived through it. it's not always internal. there's people who've lost limbs, genitals, entire chunks their abdomens or chests, etc, because they have to cut it out of you, and go a bit further into areas that haven't been infected yet. very similar to a recluse spider bite, only on a much larger scale.

grimreaper993 · 03-13-2006, 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ExistentialDisorder

This is kind'a scary, considering i live in SOUTH carolina... and i deal with the public on a daily basis. you have no idea how many times i've stuck my hand in or on something covered in somebody's bodily fluids, or some kid's spit. it's nausiating. and all i do is stock shelves. you have no idea the kinds of shit (litterally, in some cases) that people will shove behind products on a grocery store shelf. I find everything from half-eaten mcdonalds and other food and/or wrappers to snot rags. and not too long ago i found a used diaper rolled up behind the bread. WHO THE FUCK SHOVES A USED DIAPER BEHIND BREAD IN THE GROCERY STORE??? People are truly fucking disgusting. And just think about all the germs you pick up daily from dry surfaces that you don't even think about.

My friend found human fecal matter in the back of a K-mart once.