(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) A California woman lost all four of her limbs after eating undercooked fish and contracting Vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria that has gained prominence in recent months, the Daily Mail reported.
Laura Barajas, 40, underwent a life-saving limb-amputation operation after months in the hospital battling the bacterial infection.
Barajas reportedly contracted the bacteria from eating undercooked tilapia, which she purchased at a local market in San Jose.
According to one of Barajas’s friends, Anna Messina, the infection could not have been anticipated.
“It’s just been really heavy on all of us,” Messina said. “It’s terrible. This could’ve happened to any of us.”
She also noted that Barajas nearly died, and was attached for some time to a respirator.
“She almost lost her life. She was on a respirator,” Messina added.
The symptoms of the disease, which has become increasingly prevalent in the United States, include nausea, stomach cramps, vomiting and blood infection, to go along with the flesh-rotting properties.
Messina noted that Barajas’s symptoms lined up with the general diagnosis: “Her fingers were black, her feet were black her bottom lip was black. She had complete sepsis, and her kidneys were failing.”
Natasha Spottiswoode, an infectious disease expert at the University of California, San Francisco, noted that Vibrio vulnificus can be contracted primarily in two ways:
“The ways you can get infected with this bacteria are, one—you can eat something that’s contaminated with it,” she said. “The other way is by having a cut or tattoo exposed to water in which this bug lives.”
The bacteria has proven particularly harmful to the immunocompromised, including a Texas man in his 30s recently died as a result of Vibrio vulnificus, which he contracted as a result of consuming raw oysters.
At least 12 Americans have died from Vibrio infections this year. A typical year includes zero to one deaths from the bacteria, all of them concentrated along America’s coastlines.
“I think everyone should be cautious and should be aware of their own personal risks,” said Iahn Gonsenhauser, chief medical officer for Lee Health System.
