A critically ill Connecticut woman has been treated for the same life-threatening, flesh-eating infection that is plaguing Japan . The American patient was admitted to her local hospital after experiencing symptoms of vomiting, diarrhea, shortness of breath, elevated heart rate and low blood pressure. Subsequent medical scans showed fluid buildup in the patient’s lungs as well as respiratory and kidney failure.
Doctors maintain the woman’s illness is the result of Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS), a lethal bacterial infection that has claimed the lives of 77 people in Japan this year alone. After three days in intensive care, the woman stopped urinating, and one of her toes turned black, a symptom of necrosis. The case report was published in the journal Cureus .
Doctors believe the patient, who is asthmatic, contracted STSS by breathing in infected air droplets. Prior to her hospitalization, several of the patient’s family members had been diagnosed with strep throat. The common illness, defined by throat pain and discomfort when swallowing, is caused by the bacteria group A Streptococcus (group A strep).
Most group A strep infections cause mild illnesses like strep throat. However, when that bacteria spreads to the blood and deep tissue, it can trigger the development of STSS, which kills 30% of patients who are affected. STSS often results from bacteria being exposed to an open wound, which allows the bacteria to access deeper tissue.
STSS begins with common.