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'Love' bite almost kills man
24/07/2008 23:38 - (SA)
Taipei - A Taiwanese man nearly died after his girlfriend bit him on the arm, infecting him with the rare a-haemolytic streptococcus bacterium, a Taipei hospital said on Thursday.
The 28-year-old and his girlfriend quarrelled early this month and she bit him on his left arm, leaving a one-centimetre wound, according to the Taipei Medical University Hospital (TMUH).
"Later that day, his arm was swollen, and the next day he was had a fever, had rashes all over his body and had a high count of white blood cells," said Doctor Lin Yi-chun of the hospital.
The man was rushed to the hospital and was listed in critical condition with acute myocarditis, a serious heart condition.
A laboratory test showed the patient's girlfriend had a-haemolytic streptococcus bacteria in her mouth, which were passed through the bite.
The man recovered after three weeks' treatment with antibiotics and immunoglobulin.
"This is perhaps the world's only case of one person nearly causing another person's death by passing a-haemolytic streptococcus through a bite," the doctor said. She added that the unnamed patient said he still loved his girlfriend despite everything that happened. - Sapa-dpa
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