A microscopic predator

Once in a while I come across something that sends shivers down my spine. I previously have written about sharks- and this piece will prove that sharks are the least of our worries.

This little killer was thrown into the spotlight recently when a Dr Peter Breedt went off for a bit of surf-skiing off a beach on Durban's (KZN) coast.
Six hours after exiting the water, he began to feeling ill and a black area developed on his foot, where a scratch had been. Being a doctor he pumped himself of antibiotics and landed up having 3 operations to remove the dead skin as well as skin grafts. This happened in November 2011 and the wound still has not healed.

The diagnosis was the dreaded Vibrio Vulnificus (VV), a flesh eating bacteria that grows naturally in warmer (15-35 degree Celsius)  sea water where salt concentrations are high. It also grows in estuaries and brackish pools.It is a cousin of the causative agent of Cholera, Vibrio Cholerae. (Nice family this one)

This little darling of a bacterium can be welcomed into your body by ingesting- eating contaminated seafood or from it entering through wounds and scratches.Ingestion will cause severe vomiting and diarrhea.
When exposed via a wound, it causes septicemia and shock as well as terrible skin lesions.
If it enters you bloodstream, your condition will worsen dramatically. In normal wound infections, 25% of patients do not make it. Through ingestion and should the bacteria enter your bloodstream, the mortality rate shoots to 50%, most dying within 48 hours of the exposure. Normal death rates for treated patients is a worrying 33%. So, VV is some serious bug to contract.
85% of men entertaining this bacteria, proceed to shock. This is because it has been evidence that estrogen (female hormone) has a protective effect. It follows then, that women who have surgical procedures to remove one or more ovaries, suffer higher mortality rates.

At present, although it is treated with drugs, there is no optimal medication for it's treatment.
Due to the large ulcers caused and the flesh dying, operations are usually necessary to remove dead tissue and even amputations are not rare.

So, the best way to deal with little V.Vulnificus is to avoid exposure to it.  If you have open wounds, Do not swim in the sea. Also, stay clear of dirty water, swimming close to or in river mouths or storm-water outlets. This is especially relevant within 24 hours of an island or coastal storm.
Another troubling fact, is that despite strict measurements of E.coli and Enterococcus, V. Vulnificus is not measured when checking water purity by the municipalities. (This appears to be a world wide trend.)

It is difficult to tell how common or rare contracting VV is, due to doubt that not all cases are reported. For me the threats I cannot see are even more dangerous that the odd  shark. It sends chills down my spine knowing each time I am in the ocean I could be bombarded by these unseen invaders.