International
US man has 25% of his skin stripped due to flesh-eating bacteria─── 08:34 Sat, 31 Aug 2019
A Florida man has undergone three surgeries to strip 25% of his skin off his body as he battles an infection of flesh-eating bacteria.
David Ireland, who was diagnosed with necrotising fasciitis caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria, is in a critical condition at a Florida hospital, according to a GoFundMe set up by his brother.
Necrotising fasciitis refers to death of the tissue under the skin that surrounds muscles, nerves, fat, and blood vessels. More than one type of bacteria can eat the flesh; public health experts believe that group A Strep bacteria are the most common cause of these infections.
About 11,000 to 13,000 cases of invasive group A strep disease occur each year in the United States and up to 1,600 people die of some form of this invasive disease, though not all cases appear as necrotising fasciitis, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
