Woman died after contracting a flesh-eating bacteria in Florida—and her husband says she got it from a hotel hot tub.
Carol
Martin and her husband Richard went to Clearwater, Fla., in February
for their annual vacation, and stayed at a local Days Inn, local news
outlet WFLA
reports.
Richard says that Carol spent some time in the hotel hot tub
and, when they got back home, Carol noticed she had a sore on her butt.
"She had like a pimple come up on her right
butt cheek. She said it was kind of painful," Richard told WFLA. Carol
went to the doctor twice and was given several antibiotics, but the sore
kept growing. "They finally decided to do a biopsy of the area after
the third trip,” he said.
That’s when doctors discovered that Carol had necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease.
"In the emergency room they said 'we are sorry but
she has a flesh-eating bacteria, we have to rush her to surgery right
now,'" Richard told local news outlet WRTV.
Once
she was diagnosed, Carol was rushed into surgery and spent 16 days in
the ICU. She was released from the hospital, but days later she died at
home.
According to WRTV, the Marion County
Coroner is reportedly collecting tissue samples to determine whether the
infection played a cause in Carol's death.
Richard
says he isn’t totally sure where his wife contracted necrotizing
fasciitis, but he suspects the hotel hot tub. "My thing is nobody else
got it, the flesh eating bacteria. No one else got it, but she was the
only one who got in the hot tub," he said, per WFLA.
The parent company of Days Inn, Wyndham Hotels, did not respond to a request for comment from WFLA.
What is necrotizing fasciitis?
Necrotizing
fasciitis is a serious bacterial skin infection that spreads quickly
and kills your body’s soft tissue, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Necrotizing fasciitis can be deadly in a short period of time, which is
why the CDC says it’s so important to get an accurate diagnosis,
treatment with antibiotics, and surgery to stop the infection.
Necrotizing fasciitis symptoms
People
with necrotizing fasciitis often have symptoms like pain, soreness,
ulcers, blisters, and areas of swelling that spread quickly, as well as
fever, chills, fatigue, and vomiting as the illness progresses. Since
2010, up to 1,200 cases have been diagnosed each year in the U.S., the
CDC says.
How to prevent necrotizing fasciitis
Most
cases of necrotizing fasciitis occur randomly, and, in general, the
infection does not spread from person to person, according to the CDC.
People usually get necrotizing fasciitis after the bacteria makes its
way into your body through a cut, scrape, or open wound, the Mayo Clinic says.
While
necrotizing fasciitis is rare—your chances of getting it are extremely
low if you have a strong immune system and practice good hygiene—those
with other health problems that weaken the immune system are more likely
to get it than others.
The best way to lower
the odds you’ll develop necrotizing fasciitis is to clean any wound you
get—even a scrape or blister—with soap and water, and to avoid spending
time in whirlpools, hot tubs, swimming pools, and fresh water until your
wound heals, the CDC says.
Quotes:
- Carol Martin died after developing necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating bacteria, after a vacation in Florida
- Her infection initially looked like a large pimple—until a biopsy revealed the actual cause of her soreness and pain
- Necrotizing fasciitis is a serious, sometimes fatal bacterial infection that kills soft tissues in the body
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