A 44-year-old man in Kolkata died of an infection caused by a flesh-eating bacteria at the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital (RGKMCH) late Friday night.
Doctors said the flesh-eating bacteria, called necrotizing fasciitis in medical terms, is a rare infection of the skin and tissues below it and can rapidly kill a person if not diagnosed and treated quickly.
Mrinmoy Roy, the deceased, had sustained an injury some days ago when an iron rod gashed his lower hip as he fell from a train, according to a report in Times of India.
A resident of Madhyamgram, Mrinmoy was treated in a local nursing home for one week before his condition worsened. He was then shifted to RGKMCH’s trauma center on October 23.
“The patient was in severe respiratory distress and in a very toxic condition. We immediately admitted him in the surgery intensive care unit (SICU), put him on ventilation and started treatment without delay,” surgery professor Himansu Roy who treated Mrinmoy told Times of India.
The doctors, through investigation, then confirmed the presence of necrotizing fasciitis. However, the infection had eaten into his lower limb and genital area.
Himansu said by the time they could get to the patient the deadly bacteria had already infected him severely. The organisms had entered the soft tissues through the breach in the skin.
Despite being administered strong antibiotics and other supportive therapy, he did not survive, Roy told TOI.
The doctor explained the flesh-eating bacteria first attacks blood vessels causing thrombosis, which then causes obstruction to blood supply to the tissues, fascia, and muscles, finally cutting off blood supply. Being an alcoholic, Roy was said to have poor immunity.
A microbiologist, Bhaskar Narayan Chaudhuri of the Peerless hospital, explained that this bacterial infection triggers local inflammation that may compress capillaries supplying blood, which carries oxygen, to the tissues.
“This results in cell death and tissue damage or necrosis. This may involve the muscles, too, and it seems that the bacteria are ‘eating’ through the flesh. Hence, those are sometimes termed as ‘flesh eating bacteria’,” Chaudhuri was quoted by TOI as saying.
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