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Acute illness creeps in: Do you know what causes bad muscles?
In our daily lives, bacterial infection is a risk lurking around us. Although it’s not often mentioned, necrotizing fasciitis, a disease of damaged muscles, is not only a rare and dangerous disease, but it can also be a rapidly life-threatening condition. This disease, often called "flesh-eating disease," is caused by bacteria that invade the body and cause necrosis of muscles and other soft tissues.
Many patients may have symptoms of simple abscess or cellulitis early in the infection, making early diagnosis difficult.
The symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis mostly appear quickly within a few hours and include skin redness and swelling, severe pain, fever, and abnormal discharge. The most common sites of infection with this disease include the extremities and perineum. If left untreated, the infection will spread quickly. Although the disease is not common, approximately 1,000 cases are reported in the United States each year, and the incidence of necrotizing fasciitis is increasing as antibiotic resistance increases.
Causes of necrotizing fasciitis
The most common cause of necrotizing fasciitis is bacterial infection, especially common bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes. Typically, these bacteria enter the body through a break in the skin, such as a scratch or burn. It is especially likely to occur in patients who have had recent trauma or surgery. In addition to external injuries, people with diabetes, obesity, or compromised immune systems are also at high risk.
Although necrotizing fasciitis is called a "flesh-eating disease," the bacteria do not directly "eat" human tissue, but instead release toxins that cause tissue death.
Main symptoms and early diagnosis challenges
Early symptoms of the disease sometimes resemble those of other skin infections, which delays accurate diagnosis. For example, redness, swelling, and even purulent discharge are possible early signs. As the disease progresses, more obvious symptoms such as blisters, palpable gas, and subcutaneous purple spots may appear. Typically, the diagnosis of this disease relies on clinical features, but doctors can also learn about the condition through imaging tests. In typical cases, doctors will perform emergency surgery to remove infected tissue.
The importance of treatment methods and surgery
Treatment of necrotizing fasciitis represents a critical challenge in emergency medicine. In order to effectively control the infection, patients need to immediately undergo surgery to remove the infected tissue, and antibiotic treatment should be started at an early stage, which is the key to preventing the condition from worsening. If diagnosis is delayed, the risk of death increases significantly, and studies show that the longer the wait during treatment, the greater the chance of death, which may be as high as 25% to 35%.
During surgery, doctors must take aggressive debridement measures and may need to re-remove infected tissue every 12 to 36 hours to stop the spread of infection.
Social and cultural influences
Cases of necrotizing fasciitis have attracted social attention to some extent, especially when some celebrities contracted the disease, accompanied by media reports and public surprise. For example, Lucien Bouchard, the future premier of Quebec, Canada, had his leg amputated due to infection, which caused quite a stir. The growing influence of social knowledge has led to a deeper understanding of the disease.
In summary, necrotizing fasciitis is a potentially fatal infection. Its rapid development and onset characteristics make timely diagnosis and treatment crucial. In the face of this disease, many questions still remain for further research by the scientific community, such as why healthy individuals may be infected with this disease for no reason?
