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GA nursing home patient dies from 'flesh-eating bacteria'

Infection Control Monitor, April 8, 2004

Georgia health officials this week confirmed a Gainesville nursing home resident recently died of necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as "flesh-eating bacteria," and two other residents' illness are under investigation, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Necrotizing fasciitis is a skin infection caused by Group A streptococcus, which also causes strep throat and a number of other ailments.

Officials said two other residents at Bell-Minor Home, a private 104-bed nursing facility, tested positive for Strep A, but had shown no sign of the skin infection. The patients ranged in age from their 70s to 90s.
The resident with the confirmed case of necrotizing fasciitis died in late March. One of the two other patients died soon afterward, and the third is in stable condition.

The CDC says about 600 cases of necrotizing fasciitis, resulting in about 150 deaths, are reported annually in the United States. The infection enters through an existing wound, quickly destroying muscle, fat, and skin tissue as it resists antibiotics, amputation, and other treatment.

Between 10% and 15% of the general population may carry Strep A but show no symptoms. Pneumonia, blood and skin infections, and meningitis are among the more serious forms of Strep A. Millions of Americans get strep throat each year.

Staff and residents of the nursing home were tested for Strep A and offered antibiotics. About 10% of those tested were Strep A-positive, but not sick. State health officials inspected the facility and reviewed measures aimed at preventing strep outbreaks.

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