Infection Control Today Magazine

Necrotizing Fasciitis

Research Identifies 'Bath Salts' as New Source of Flesh-Eating Infection

A study led by Russell R. Russo, MD, a third-year orthopaedic surgery resident at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, has identified a new source of life-threatening necrotizing fasciitis – "bath salts." The study, describing the first known case of ...More
January 12, 2012
Posted in News
Researchers Examine Outcome of Necrotizing Fasciitis Depending on the Pathogen

Monomicrobial necrotizing fasciitis is rapidly progressive and life-threatening. Ching-Yu Lee, of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Taiwan, and colleagues, sought to ascertain whether the clinical presentation and outcome for patients ...More
January 5, 2011
Posted in News
Genome Sequencing Study Finds Clues to Unraveling the Causes of Deadly Epidemics

A team of collaborating scientists at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston, the Broad Institute in Boston, Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto, and the Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion (OAHPP) have sequenced almost 100 full genomes from three ...More
January 25, 2010
Posted in News
Mutant Gene Lessens Devastation of Flesh-Eating Bacteria

Scientists at the Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston recently discovered a simple gene mutation that decreases the chance people will get a flesh-eating disease called necrotizing fasciitis. Further, they proved that inactivating this section of the gene ...More
January 4, 2010
Posted in News
Blood Tests Can Help Detect Presence of Necrotizing Soft Tissue Infections

With less than half of patients with necrotizing soft tissue infections displaying the physical signs of these very serious infections, researchers have found two simple blood tests can help physicians diagnose what is commonly known as "flesh-eating bacteria," according to ...More
December 4, 2008
Posted in News
How Flesh-Eating Bacteria Attack the Body’s Immune System

“Flesh-eating” bacteria are able to survive and spread in the body by degrading a key immune defense molecule, according to researchers at the University of California, San Diego, School of Medicine and Skaggs School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. The ...More
August 13, 2008
Posted in News