Necrotizing fasciitis, necrotizing soft tissue infection, flesh eating bacteria and flesh eating disease are commonly used interchangeably to refer to the same rare health condition. It is a fast spreading bacteria infection that causes subcutaneous soft tissue and fascia necrosis.
Fascia is fibrous connective tissue that surrounds, separates and binds together muscles, organs and other soft structures in your body. Necrosis means tissue cell death, aka gangrene when the cause of death is bacteria toxins.
Many different types of bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis, although certain strains of strep or staph are frequently involved in this soft tissue infection. The flesh eating bacteria usually enters the body through an opening in the skin where the infectious disease starts to grow and release its harmful toxins that causes tissue death. This flesh eating disease can quickly lead to blood circulation problems and shock.
Initial symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis are fever, chills and erythema at the site of your necrotizing soft tissue infection. A painful bump develops under your skin, which quickly changes to a very painful discolored patch. Within a matter of an hour the tissue in the area can die, as marked by a black and oozing open wound.
Other symptoms of flesh eating disease may include:
Sepsis is a potential complication.
Generally, some sort of skin injury offers the opportunity for flesh eating bacteria to gain entry, for instance:
- frostbite
- insect bite
- cuts, scrapes
- surgical incision
- open bone fracture
- skin abscess, ulcer
- needle puncture site
However, how this pathogen actually enters may never be discovered. And without immediate treatment, death can occur within in a matter of hours.
Because this flesh eating disease can turn fatal so quickly, aggressive antibiotic treatment must be given immediately into a vein and immunoglobulins may be included as well. Surgical debridement and drainage of infected tissue will follow. Other forms of treatment for this health condition may include analgesics, hyperbaric oxygen therapy or even amputation.