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Health Officials Warn About Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Connecticut

Since July, at least five local residents have been taken to hospital after contracting an infection caused by salt or brackish water in the Long Island Sound.
Sputnik

Infection caused by vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, threatens residents in shoreline areas of Connecticut, the Connecticut Department of Public Health (DPH) said in a press release on Saturday.

At least five patients, aged between 49-85, have been hospitalised since July, with three of them catching a bloodstream infection and another two suffering serious wound infections. No deaths have been registered.

Vibrio vulnificus infection is a rare kind of infection that can be contracted through undercooked seafood or through an open wound if it's exposed to salt or brackish water. It requires swift treatment, since about 1 in 5 people infected die, sometimes within 1 or 2 days after catching the infection.

The danger is that a wound infection may spread to the rest of the body, causing fever, swelling, and discolouration. Sometimes patients need an amputation to remove dead or seriously infected tissue.

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