New Case of flesh-eating bacteria occurred in USA ~ Technology Update

After a case where student of psychology at the University of West Georgia was found infected by the flesh eating bacteria known as Aeromonas hydrophila, A new case was seen in the USA and this time its New Mother.

Lana Kuykendall is a paramedic, so when a rapidly spreading red and black bruise appeared on the back of her leg after giving birth to twins, she knew something was wrong.

She and husband, Darren, raced to the hospital and within 90 minutes, the new mother was having surgery for necrotizing fasciitis, a rare but potentially deadly infection also called the flesh-eating bacteria.

“She’s still critical,” Darren Kuykendall told GreenvilleOnline.com. “It’s been a nightmare.”

After a normal pregnancy, the Piedmont couple welcomed their twins, Abigail and Ian, on May 7 at an Atlanta hospital, he said. Except for Lana needing blood, the delivery went normally and the babies were fine, he said.

Lana Kuykendall with Her Husband

But he said by the next day Lana, who had begun having leg cramps the night before, was weak. She couldn’t stand or walk. When tests revealed nothing wrong, they returned home Thursday.

By Friday morning, however, Lana, 36, discovered the strange lesion on the back of her left leg.

“That scared her. She thought it was a blood clot. So we rushed immediately to Greenville Memorial Hospital,” Darren Kuykendall said.

“And the longer she sat there, the bigger that spot got. It was initially the size of a 3-by-5 index card. But it got bigger and bigger. It moved a quarter of an inch in half an hour. Then the high-risk OB physician had a suspicion of what it was.”

Limbs Infeccted after Flesh eating bacteria attack it

Necrotizing fasciitis is a bacterial infection that often occurs in an arm or leg after a minor trauma or surgery, according to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation. Group A Strep is most often responsible in minor traumas, the group reports.

People have developed the condition through a host of experiences, including a C-section or natural childbirth, abdominal surgery or a scratch, a broken leg or a cut, according to the group.

A recent highly publicized case involves Aimee Copeland, a 24-year-old Georgia graduate student who got the infection after suffering a cut in a zip line accident, according to The Associated Press. Doctors had to amputate her left leg and may still have to remove her fingers, her father said.

The disease occurs when bacteria enter the body and emit toxins that destroy the soft tissue, which becomes infected and must be removed, according to the NF foundation. Along with surgery, treatment includes antibiotics and other medications.

If it spreads, it can cause systemic shock and death within days.

In Lana Kuykendall’s first surgery, doctors removed the dead skin and tissue, her husband said. A little more tissue was removed during a second and third surgery, but no more infected tissue was found in the last operation Monday, he said.

Group A strep caused the infection, which also spread to her blood, and she is being treated with antibiotics, he said. She was still on a ventilator in the intensive care unit on Tuesday and sedated.

Kuykendall, 42, has no idea how the infection occurred.

“They are saying things are leaning her way. Her vitals are good and her lab results are looking good,” he said. “But this could go either way at any given time.”

Married for four years, the couple met at the scene of an accident — he’s a firefighter and she’s a paramedic with Greenville Hospital System. The twins are healthy and being cared for by family and friends, he said.