A disease has set off the alerts of health organizations in Japan, as the number of infections of a bacteria detected for 30 years has increased in recent years at an increasingly rapid rate.
The National Institute of Infectious Diseases (NIID) of that country reported that group A streptococcus bacteria was present in 378 cases recorded during January and February 2024. Infected people are found in 45 of Japan’s 47 prefectures.
In 2023, the total number of victims rose to 941, while in 1992, when the first outbreaks of the disease were recorded, there were an average of 100 to 200 patients that year.
Regarding the reasons for the gradual growth of cases, the institute stated that they still do not have all the answers to give a concrete explanation, according to The Guardian.
“There are still many unknown factors about the mechanisms behind fulminant (severe and sudden) forms of streptococci, and we are not at the stage where we can explain them,” the NIID said.
Although infection by strain A of streptococcus is usually fatal in people over 50 years of age, in 2023, 65 people under this same age who were diagnosed with the infection, 21 died, according to information collected by the British newspaper.
Keizo Takemi, Minister of Health of Japan, estimated that infections of streptococcus pyogenes are related to a rebound in respiratory diseases after the post-pandemic phase due to Covid-19 that Japan experienced last spring, El Confidencial reported.
What are the first symptoms of “flesh-eating bacteria”?
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates that group A strep bacteria are very contagious.
Generally, they are transmitted from one person to another through saliva droplets or direct contact. Some of the most common symptoms are:
Fever
Sore throat that started very quickly and throat that may look red, without cough
Reddened tonsils with plaques of pus
Red spots on the palate
Swollen lymph nodes in the neck
Among the most severe symptoms may be:
Vomiting
Nausea
Fever and chills
Tachycardia
The reason this infection is known as “flesh-eating bacteria” is due to the most serious symptom of the disease, streptococcal toxic shock syndrome, which can progress rapidly and lead to low blood pressure, multiple organ failure, and even death.
The infection spreads to deep tissues and blood, which in some cases generates necrosis of the skin. In these cases the bacteria can be acquired through small cuts.
2024-03-21 01:36:25
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