Mom Says Son Contracted Flesh-Eating Bacteria at Maryland Beach

A beach stock photo (Illustration - Shutterstock)

Warning: Article contains graphic photos.

A mother issued a warning after her son contracted flesh-eating bacteria at a Maryland beach.

The Maryland mother, Brittany Carey, posted about the health scare on Facebook on June 29, saying her son returned from a trip to Chesapeake Bay with “little spots developing all over his body.”

The spots, she said, turned into open wounds.

“I had thought he was scratching them, making them worse. Only to find when I picked him up Tuesday they were a lot bigger and a lot more,” she said. Doctors initially told the family that it “was really nothing.”

Then, they allegedly prescribed the boy antibiotics that “only made it worse.”

She then took her son to the hospital days later and discovered her son “now had VIBRIO,” which is “a bacteria found in the bay and also in raw seafood.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says vibrio is a bacterial infection that people can get from eating uncooked or undercooked seafood.

“Certain Vibrio species can also cause a skin infection when an open wound is exposed to salt water or brackish water. Brackish water is a mixture of fresh and salt water. It is often found where rivers meet the sea,” the agency says on its website, adding: “People with compromised immune systems, especially those with chronic liver disease, are more likely to get vibriosis. Eating raw seafood, particularly oysters, and exposing open wounds to salt water or brackish water can increase a person’s chance for getting vibriosis.”

Carey also posted photos of her son’s peeling, red scars, adding that her boy is recovering.

“Please be careful out there guys and if you start seeing wounds such as these please get somewhere fast!” she said in the Facebook post.

Woman Dies of Flesh-Eating Bacteria

A Florida woman’s death after contracting flesh-eating bacteria has caused her family to issue a warning.

Lynn Fleming, 77, died last week while walking along a beach situated on the Gulf of Mexico, CBS News reported.

“I’m still numb. You know, it’s two weeks and I lost my mother,” Fleming’s son, Wade, told the news outlet on July 1. “It’s been hard.”

Wade Fleming said she was walking on the beach when she fell and suffered a small cut.

“She didn’t know that there was a small ditch there and she stumbled and hit the embankment on the other side,” Wade told the news outlet. “She had a small little 3/4-inch long cut on her shin bone.”

Her son now wants people to know the warning signs. “Maybe if she was diagnosed a little earlier, you know, maybe we’d be sitting here talking to my mom without a leg, but you know, with a life,” Fleming said.

The CDC adds there are several types of flesh-eating bacteria. “Necrotizing means causing the death of tissues. Fasciitis means inflammation of the fascia (the tissue under the skin that surrounds muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels),” the agency says on its website.

Early symptoms include a red or swollen area of skin that spreads quickly, severe pain, including pain beyond the area of the skin that is red, and a fever.

“See a doctor right away if you have these symptoms after an injury or surgery. Even though minor illnesses can cause symptoms like these, people should not delay getting medical care. Later symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis can include: Ulcers, blisters, or black spots on the skin … changes in the color of the skin … pus or oozing from the infected area,” the agency says.

Dizziness, fatigue, diarrhea, and nausea are also symptoms.