This is the 4th or 5th case of flesh eating bacteria in this area in a short time. Would CS, the hyperbaric system described by Brooks, or anything else we have talked about, have worked for this guy? He is the dad of a friend. suzy
http://www.dmregister.com/news/stories/c4788996/14655842.html Flesh-eating disease attacks Urbandale man > By <A HREF="mailto:[email protected]%3fsubject=online:%20Flesh-eating%20disease%20attacks%20Urbandale%20man";>KATE KOMPAS</A> Register Staff Writer 05/11/2001Joseph Rogers of Urbandale got out of bed about 6 a.m. on April 21 and couldn't feel his toes.Doctors removed his leg before noon.Rogers, 76, fell victim to necrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as the "flesh-eating disease."The disease is caused by a variation of the bacteria that causes strep throat and is as rare as it is deadly. The bacteria typically enter the body through a wound and immediately begin to devour muscle and fat. It can progress at a speed of three centimeters an hour, doctors say.The Centers for Disease Control reports there are fewer than 2,000 people infected in the United States each year. About 100 of them will die. Experts say the chance of contracting necrotizing fasciitis from another person is near nonexistent."I've got a disease I can't pronounce the name of," Rogers said Thursday. "I don't understand why this happened to me."His was the second case of necrotizing fasciitis reported in Iowa in the past month. Curtis Benttine, a truck driver from St. Ansgar, was hospitalized earlier this week. Twelve pounds of infected tissue was removed from Benttine's leg.Dr. Cort Lohff of the state health department said statewide numbers on necrotizing fasciitis aren't kept, but the disease has shown up before:* Randy Schabaker, 51, of Des Moines died of the flesh-eating disease in March 1993.* Bryan Crawford, 12, of Independence lost part of his leg to the disease in 1994.* Ryan Johnson, 14, of Independence died in 1995. He also had leukemia.* Stuart Eliasen, a 34-year-old Plainfield farmer, died in 1997.* Matthew Potter, 6, of Amana died in 1998 from a streptococcus infection that later was determined not to be the "flesh-eating" form.When his toes went numb, Rogers called to his wife, Mary, who thought he was having a stroke and called 911.A bruise appeared on his left leg by the time he arrived at the hospital, Rogers said. The discoloration spread, inching up his leg within a few hours. By 10 a.m., the doctors at Iowa Methodist Medical Center said they should amputate.Doctors still are puzzled over how Rogers contracted the disease."I cried for three days," Mary Rogers said Thursday. "But I've accepted it."Mary, who's been married to Joseph for 53 years, has been reading everything she can on the disease.The retired steel worker and World War II veteran will start rehabilitation soon and will be fitted with a prosthetic leg."There's no pain," he said. "The good leg feels good, and the bad leg's not there." Rogers said. "I guess I'm lucky I got through it."
