While sharks and jellyfish can be what most people are afraid of while swimming in the ocean, public health officials warn of a deadly threat on the beach.
Lurking on the lurking in warm, coastal waters is the carnivorous vibrio vulnificus. These deadly bacteria can enter the body through the smallest – sometimes even imperceptible – opening of a cut or scraping.
After finding a way, it enters the bloodstream and gives enzymes and toxins that break down proteins, fats and collagen, so that skin and muscle tissue are destroyed.
It avoids the defense of the immune system and causes a widespread inflammatory response that causes even more tissue damage. Reduced blood flow to the infected area worsens this damage, which ultimately leads to the death of tissue under the skin.
This results in amputations to try to cut the infection or – in severe cases – death.
Vibrio requires hot water to grow and spread, so that Gulf Coast beaches frequently ended up.
But colder regions gradually become more hospitable as the ocean temperatures rise and attract and cherish colonies of the bacteria. Vibrio infections are attached to the east coast, Alaska, the Baltic Sea and Chile, who, according to scientists, now believe that the following hotspots can be.
The CDC has not issued an annual report on Vibrio in the US since 2019, when 2,685 infections were reported. A major assessment of CDC data on East Coast States from 1988 to 2018 showed that Vibrio wound infections increased eight -time, from around 10 cases to more than 80 a year.
Florida reported 83 vibrio vulnificus cases and 18 deaths in 2024 – surpassed earlier records of 74 cases (17 dead) in 2022 and 46 cases (11 dead) in 2023.
Vibrio lurking in warm coastal waters can enter an open wound, reach the bloodstream and release enzymes and toxins that destroy proteins, fats and collagen, skin and muscle tissue
The above maps show projections of future distribution of vibrio vulnificus, which is fed by rising ocean temperatures
Vibrio Vulnificus can also infect a person who eats raw or insufficient cooked animals, causing painful abdominal cramps and diarrhea, and in cases where the bacteria enter the bloodstream, sepsis and death.
The CDC estimates that 80,000 Americans are infected with vibrio every year, although there are only 1,200 to 2,000 confirmed cases annually, because it is often diagnosed incorrectly
Vibriosis, the infection caused by the bacteria, is usually treated with antibiotics, in particular doxycycline and ceftazidime.
As soon as the bacteria reach the bloodstream, the infection is fatal about 50 percent of the time.
The threat of the treacherous bacteria is growing alone, scientists say.
Heavenly high seafood consumption around the world, with the help of coastal waters for recreational activities, and the compound effects of global climate change, people are set up to see a clear increase in both reported cases and fatalities in the near future, “according to scientists from the UK and Spain.
The vast majority of vibrio infections took place in Florida, bound by floods after the Hurricane, and Texas, largely as a result of fishing and oyster harvest injuries, as well as Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana.
Gulf Coast (the highest risk)
Florida has the most reported cases of vibrio infections, with outbreaks concentrated on Siesta Key and Lido Beach in Sarasota. Health officials registered several wound infections from 2023 to 2024, including necrotizing fasciitis in swimmers with cuts.
In 2024 the State registered 82 cases and 19 dead.
In Tampa Bay in Ben T. Davis Beach and Cypress Point Park, at least five wound infections were confirmed from 2022 to 2023, usually in fishermen.
The Florida Panhandle (Destin, Panama City Beach) saw about eight cases in 2023 after the tasty Idalia, usually due to exposure to the water water.
In Fort Myers in Lynn Hall Memorial Park there were more than 10 cases of post-hurricane Ian in 2022, including serious wound infections of polluted storm teases.
Texas saw clusters in Galveston (Stewart Beach, East Beach), with at least six wound infections of swimming with cuts and three fatal cases linked to oyster consumption.
Five infections were reported in Rockport Beach and Corpus Christi in 2023, including under oyster harvesting machines with hand lesions.
Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana reported less but still remarkable cases.
This graph shows vibrio infections reported in the United States. It reveals that vibrio fillnificus – the large gray dotted line – has gradually seen fallen rise
Gulf Shores and Dauphin Island in Alabama had at least four wound infections from 2021 to 2023, often in Krabbers.
In Mississippi, Biloxi and Gulfport registered three cases in 2022, usually after the flood.
Grand Isle, Louisiana saw three infections in 2023, coupled with cutbacks while she used seafood.
Randy Bunch, a 66-year-old seasoned fisherman from Freeport, Texas, died on 8 June after a deadly vibrio infection of a small scrap on his foot while scratching in shallow Gulf Waters.
His daughter, Brandy Pendergraft, said he had worn Flip-Flops instead of his usual protective wading boots.
Bunch developed severe pain, a fever of 104 ° F and confusion within a few hours. Doctors could not initially identify the problem, but the infection – marked by bruises and blisters – deteriorated Randy.
He was placed on a fan but died within a few days.
East Coast (moderate risk, sporadic cases)
North Carolina experienced outbreaks on Wrightsville Beach and Carolina Beach, with at least seven wound infections from 2022 to 2023, including surfers with scratches.
South Carolina saw more than five infections from 2021 to 2023 in Myrtle Beach Marshes and Folly Beach, mainly due to wading with cuts.
Brent Norman (photo) was infected with a carnivorous bacteria after walking on sea shells while walking along a beach in South Carolina
Days after barefoot on the beach, the health -conscious man was unbearable pain and said his foot (photo) was swollen and he could no longer walk
Last year in the neighborhood, Brent strolled Norman along the banks of the island of Sullivan and the island of Palms near Charleston, when he stepped on a shell that caused a cut in his foot.
Within a few days his foot swolded seriously and caused unbearable pain, which doctors attributed to vibriosis, caused the infection caused by the bacteria.
From Virginia to New Jersey, spread cases include about four infections around the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia in 2023 mainly in crab fishermen; At least two wound infections in 2022 on Assateague Island from Maryland and Ocean City Bayside; And one confirmed case in Barnegat Bay in New Jersey due to a sailing injury in 2023.
West Coast & Hawaii (rare cases)
California reported a single case of vibrio of a wound in San Diego Bay in a sailor with a blister in 2022.
Hawaii saw isolated cases from 2021 to 2023 in Keehi Lagoon (Oahu), coupled with Brackish water exposure.
Although the meat-rotizing complication occurs more often when the bacterium enters the body through a wound, necrotizing fasciitis can occur when a person also consumes the bacteria.
Laura Barajas, 40, underwent a life -saving amputation operation on Thursday after a month -long stay in the hospital against the terrible infection
Laura Barajas, a 40-year-old mother from San Jose, underwent four-fold amputation after the incoming of a serious vibrio vulnificus infection of the tilapia tired that she prepared in July at home.
The bacteria that warns the CDC, can cause life-threatening sepsis in a medically induced coma with failing kidneys and necrotic limbs.
Barajas, who has a six -year -old son, survived but is confronted with a lifelong handicap. Her friend Anna Messina shared that Barajas’ fingers were black, her feet were black that her lower lip was black and her kidneys failed when the infection destroyed her body.
#Experts #give #urgent #warning #holidaymakers #Memorial #Day #deadly #carnivorous #bacteria #exceed #beaches