'Flesh-eating' disease strikes

2004-05-03 07:32

Ottawa - A woman has died and another patient is listed in serious condition following a new outbreak of the so-called "flesh-eating" disease in Canada.

Both patients were treated at St Joseph's Hospital in Saint John, New Brunswick, where the surviving patient remained in a serious condition on Sunday with necrotizing fasciitis, better known as flesh-eating disease, hospital officials said.

A 37-year-old woman and another patient were discharged after undergoing surgery last week. They were both subsequently rushed back to hospital and kept in isolation.

Hospital authorities said some hospital workers and others who may have been in contact with the two have been given antibiotics in the hope of stopping the disease from spreading.

Necrotizing fasciitis begins with streptococcus A bacteria. Most people who are exposed to the bacteria don't get sick and even among those who do become ill, very few get flesh-eating disease. The disease, however, strikes rapidly and is frequently fatal.

In 1994, former federal cabinet minister Lucien Bouchard, then premier of Quebec, lost a leg when he was struck with necrotizing fasciitis.

The spokesperson at St John's Hospital said it was not yet known how or why the latest outbreak occurred.

- AFP