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  • 2017-08-01 (xsd:date)
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  • Did a Swimmer Become Infected with Flesh-Eating Bacteria in Myrtle Beach? (en)
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  • On 30 July 2017, Facebook user Marsha Barnes Beal published a post claiming that her mother was battling an infection caused by flesh-eating bacteria contracted at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Missing from the post were basic details, such as the date of Fetterman's beach visit, how doctors purportedly traced the infection back to that visit, and whether anyone else was claiming to have been sickened by the same communicable bug. Nevertheless, the post caused significant alarm among would-be beachgoers who feared, naturally, that poor water quality posed a life-threatening risk. Medical claims can be difficult to verify due to patient privacy laws, but on 31 July 2017, WCSC/WMBF reported that this infection may have come from a simple cut: The City of Myrtle Beach responded to the rumors in a 31 July 2017 Facebook post, acknowledging the claim but adding that it had not been definitively linked to water quality in Myrtle Beach: DHEC did not appear reluctant to close beaches when water quality tests indicated higher than acceptable levels of bacteria. On 29 June 2017, one such warning was issued. The Centers for Disease Control's page about necrotizing fasciitis explains that the condition is rare, and not attributable to a single bacterium (that is, nothing necessarily specific in a body of water is definitively linked with the development of necrotizing fasciitis): The CDC cautions the public to avoid spending time in whirlpools, hot tubs, swimming pools, and natural bodies of water (e.g., lakes, rivers, oceans) if you have an open wound or skin infection in order to avoid necrotizing fasciitis, adding that the majority of people who get necrotizing fasciitis have other health problems that may lower their body’s ability to fight infection. A study published in August 2014 noted that a specific type of the illness was reported along warm-water coastal regions in the southeastern United States, Central and South America, and Asia, and that infection can occur via exposure through an open wound or other break in the skin, but infection has also been reported via ingestion of colonized oysters by patients with cirrhosis. In response to our inquiry about the rumor, DHEC provided the following statement: A woman did apparently develop necrotizing fasciitis following a minor injury in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina in July 2017. Necrotizing fasciitis itself is not a bacterium, but a disease typically associated with a wound or break in the skin, and can be caused by a number of bacteria. Public health officials in South Carolina are aware of the rumor, but have received no indication that there is cause for public concern about beach water quality. The water is routinely tested, and it has not revealed any water condition associated with bacteria-based risk to bathers. (en)
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