284 people infected with dangerious flesh-eating bacterium in Japan

August 27, 2015  10:34

A deadly flesh-eating bacterium has infected 284 people as of Aug. 16, already shattering Japan’s annual record and prompting advisories from health experts, according to the National Institute of Infectious Diseases.

According to Asahi, the patients with streptococcal toxic shock syndrome (STSS) include 45 people in Tokyo, 28 in Osaka Prefecture and 20 in Kanagawa Prefecture, preliminary data released on Aug. 25 by the institute showed.

In all of 2014, 273 patients were reported with STSS, the highest number since the institute started keeping such records in 1999.

The fatality rate of STSS, mainly group A streptococcus, is estimated at about 30 percent.

“The disease can be contained by anti-bacterial drugs in normal cases, but conditions can exacerbate suddenly, so patients are recommended to contact medical institutions when swelling spreads over their body,” said Ken Kikuchi, a professor of infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University.

Group A streptococcus causes pharyngitis that leads to sore throats, as well as impetigo skin diseases, mainly among children. But when patients become infected with the bacterium through scars and wounds, they can develop fevers exceeding 38 degrees and swelling of the limbs that could eventually lead to necrosis, or tissue decay.

Patients could die within a few days of the onset from multiple organ failure and other symptoms.

The STSS mainly hits people in their 30s or older, and its mechanism is not fully understood. The institute said 29 percent of patients of the disease died in cases reported between 2012 and 2014.

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