Honolulu Star-Advertiser © Susan Scott
April 22, 1996
RECENTLY, I read a news story about a sailor with a leg infection who Navy SEALs rescued near Fanning Island.
Because Fanning has no airstrip, four SEALs loaded with medicine parachuted from a plane, swam to the anchored sailboat and started intravenous antibiotics on the sick man. Soon after, they set sail for nearby Christmas Island where the Coast Guard flew the man to Tripler Medical Center.
Wow, I thought. Now there’s some serious attention for a boo-boo of the leg.
Was the whole thing really that urgent? Didn’t this cruising sailor have antibiotics on the boat? Is this one of those eat-you-up infections?
I called the sick sailor, Dave Baker, who invited me to come visit him at Tripler. There I found a pleasant, articulate man, previously in excellent health, with an enormous dressing over his left calf and ankle.
I also learned that yes, it had been urgent; yes, there had been antibiotics on the boat (but not the right ones); and yes, this was one of those extremely virulent infections.
Dave was still reeling over the incident. It began as an everyday fishing affair: A tuna thrashing in the cockpit of the boat poked Dave’s ankle with the hook in its mouth.
“The hook got you good?” I asked him.
“No, it barely scratched my skin,” he replied. “I just had two tiny marks where the points touched me.”
THE next day, however, Dave and his companion saw trouble brewing. The ankle began to redden and swell, and blisters crept up his calf.
In spite of taking both kinds of antibiotics from their medical kit, Dave’s temperature shot up. The leg, and the man’s overall health, deteriorated rapidly.
After describing these symptoms over the radio to Honolulu, the decision was made to do the SEAL rescue. It probably saved Dave’s life.
Doctors on this case believe the culprit bacteria infecting Dave’s wound was Vibrio vulnificus, a notorious organism known for its fast and lethal punch.
Vibrio bacteria occur naturally in warm seawater and estuaries throughout the world. Researchers recently identified Vibrio species on rocks, on marine animals and in the water surrounding pristine islets 185 miles from Baja.
Vibrio vulnificus usually enter the body either from eating contaminated raw shellfish (about 60 percent of cases) or through marine wounds. These bacteria multiply rapidly, quickly overwhelming the body’s defenses.
COMPARED to Staph and Strep infections, Vibrio vulnificus infections are rare. When they do occur, however, they can cause amputation or death.
In Florida, from 1981 through 1992, 72 people were infected by eating raw oysters. Thirty-six of those died. During that same period, 53 Florida people got the same infection from wounds. Eight of these victims died.
Most deaths occur in people with liver disease or in those with damaged immune systems. Healthy people, however, can also succumb, especially without appropriate antibiotics.
Few cases of Vibrio infections occur in Hawaii, but this is still a bug to watch out for.
Although any wound can become dangerously infected, Vibrio infections spread remarkably fast, and quickly look like the worst infection you’ve ever seen in your life.
Sailors, fishermen and others in remote areas should carry antibiotics that kill Vibrio as well as the more common Staph and Strep. Get these prescription drugs, and instructions on their use, from your doctor.
Fortunately, Dave Baker will live and return to his boat on two good legs. And, I’m sure, in his two good arms will be a load of Vibrio-effective antibiotics.