BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Health officials in Louisiana are urging beachgoers to take precautions during a summertime surge in infections from a flesh-eating bacteria found in coastal waters.Louisiana has confirmed nine cases of Vibrio vulnificus infections this year, the state’s health department said last week in a news release. All were hospitalized, and five died. During the same period over the previous decade, Louisiana reported an average of seven cases and one death.“Seek medical care immediately if a wound exposed to brackish or salt water becomes red, swollen, painful, warm or discolored,” officials said in the release. “Tell the health care provider about the water exposure.”The Gulf is an ideal environmentVibrio bacteria thrive in seawater and in the brackish mix of fresh and saltwater found in estuaries and lagoons. Most infections are reported from May to October, and most happen in states along the Gulf Coast. Doctors say the Gulf is an ideal environment with the right amounts of salt and heat to let this organism proliferate.
The mostly deadly type is Vibrio vulnificus, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. As many as one in five of those infections are fatal, a much higher rate than other types of Vibrio bacteria. Florida, which tends to have more infections than other states, has reported 14 Vibrio vulnificus cases and two deaths so far this year, compared with 33 cases and five deaths for all of last year. Records show more cases in years when Florida is hit by tropical storms and hurricanes.
