{"id":6773,"date":"2014-08-01T20:51:21","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T20:51:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=6773"},"modified":"2016-03-04T12:16:53","modified_gmt":"2016-03-04T16:16:53","slug":"flesh-eating-bacteria-in-gulf-of-mexico-kills-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=6773","title":{"rendered":"Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Gulf of Mexico Kills 10"},"content":{"rendered":"

Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Gulf of Mexico Kills 10<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Chelsea Rice
\nBoston.com Staff<\/p>\n

When you\u2019re worried about the things you can\u2019t see in the ocean while you\u2019re swimming, worry less about sharks and more about the cut you gave yourself shaving.<\/p>\n

The latest in\u00a0scary news that seems to only happen in Florida\u00a0<\/a>is a flesh-eating bacteria that has hospitalized 32 and killed 10 along Florida\u2019s Gulf Coast.<\/p>\n

The bacteria,\u00a0Vibro vulnificus<\/em>, thrives in salt water and is related to bacteria that causes cholera. The Florida Department of Health in Sarasota County issued\u00a0an official warning today\u00a0<\/a>about the flesh-eating bacteria that leads to a life-threatening blood infection.<\/p>\n

According to the Florida Department of Health, the bacteria is naturally found in warm, \u201cbrackish\u201d and salt water such as estuaries and coastal channels, but can seriously infect people with open wounds who swim there.<\/p>\n

Wounds infected with\u00a0Vibrio vulnificus<\/em>\u00a0are usually painful, swollen, and red, according to health officials. Additional symptoms can include nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea, fever, chills, as well as blistering skin lesions. Health officials encourage residents to contact a physician immediately if they are experiencing these symptoms.<\/p>\n

If the infection is left to fester, it can breakdown the skin and lead to ulcers, hence, the \u201cflesh-eating\u201d descriptor. Eventually, the infection can enter the bloodstream, which is when it can become life-threatening.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s not just swimmers that should be wary. People can contract this bacteria from eating raw or undercooked shellfish that hasn\u2019t gone through a post-harvest treatment process, especially if they already suffer from a condition that weakens their immune system such as hepatitis C, liver disease, diabetes, cancer, or stomach disorders.<\/p>\n

Sharks < Flesh-eating bacteria<\/p>\n

All of this leads me to wonder… I travel to Florida regularly and have heard nothing of this bacteria, which infected 41 people and killed 10 in Florida in 2013 according to the state health department. The first warning about\u00a0Vibrio vulnificus\u00a0<\/em>went out June 4.<\/p>\n

Instead, while we are swimming all we can think about are the sharks that may or may not be lurking. Why are we so afraid of sharks in the ocean when we\u2019re so much more likely to die from an unseen bacterial infection?<\/p>\n

In 2013, the\u00a0University of Florida\u2019s annual shark attack report<\/a>\u00a0found there were 125 shark attacks worldwide. Florida in 2013 had 23 unprovoked attacks but no deaths. Only 10 people, worldwide, died from unprovoked shark attacks in 2013.<\/p>\n

So far\u00a0Vibrio vulnificus<\/em>\u00a0in Florida killed as many people that died from shark attacks world wide in all of 2013.<\/p>\n

Conclusion: Sharks are cute compared to this scary, unseen attacker.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chelsea Rice is a health producer for Boston.com.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Gulf of Mexico Kills 10 By Chelsea Rice Boston.com Staff When you\u2019re worried about the things you can\u2019t see in the ocean while you\u2019re swimming, worry less about sharks and more about the cut you gave yourself … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6773","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6773"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6773"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}