Roper Hospital confirms case of flesh eating bacteria
By: Laura Hettiger | WCBD
Published: June 15, 2012
The doctors at Roper Hospital are treating with a patient battling necrotizing fasciitis--the medical term for flesh-eating bacteria.
It is the third confirmed case in the Palmetto state in the last two months. However, Dr. Todd Shuman, who is the main doctor treating the Roper patient, said the disease is not on the rise: the reporting of it is.
"The cause of those cases have been very different," Shuman said exclusively to News 2. "It is still a very rare problem that occurs in the community."
Shuman said it is so rare, only three cases are reported out of every 100,000 people.
"Is it increasing nationally?" Shuman asked. "As far as we can tell, in the United States, it really hasn't increased."
Due to HIPAA--or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act--Shuman could not give too many details about the patient at Roper aside from it being an adult male who was admitted several days ago. The man has already undergone surgery and will continue working with an anesthesiologist to relieve his pain. He will eventually have hyperbaric oxygen therapy which is the use of oxygen at above normal atmospheric pressure.
While Shuman could not elaborate on his patient's condition, he was very adamant about the health of the rest of the hospital.
"It is not contagious," Shuman said. "The spread of this particular infection is like the spread of any other infection. The way to minimize spread is by hand washing."
