A Juneau man is in a Seattle hospital, struggling to fight off a flesh-eating bacteria that is threatening to cost him his arm.
Ruben Pereyra arrived at the Bartlett Regional Hospital emergency room on June 21, where doctors immediately ordered a medevac to Seattle’s Harborview Memorial Hospital.
He remains there, in satisfactory condition, a hospital spokesperson said Tuesday.
Pereyra’s wife, Ana Pereyra, said Tuesday evening that he was undergoing surgery, but wouldn’t know the outcome until later.
“He’s actually in surgery right now,” she said late Tuesday. “When he comes out we’ll see if he’s going to keep the arm or not,” she said.
Bartlett spokesman Jim Strader said the hospital takes the flesh-eating bacteria, known formally as necrotizing fasciitis, very seriously. It is thought to have a fatality rate of as high as 25 percent, he said.
“It’s pretty serious. Fortunately, it’s rare,” he said.
Strader said the disease was not confirmed in Juneau, but that the symptoms were consistent with necrotizing fasciitis. He’s been treated at Harborview since then.
Flesh-eating bacteria is a rare condition, and happens when the skin is somehow broken and a naturally occurring bacteria gets into the body.
“Any time you have any break in the skin — a cut, an insect bite, a scrape — any time the skin is compromised in an way,” the bacteria can get into the body, he said.
Ana Pereyra said that’s what happened in her husband’s case.
“It was a simple splinter in his hand,” she said.
The infection is difficult to transmit from one person to another, and would have to be done through open wounds of some sort, Strader said. Despite rumors in the community of additional cases, Strader said he knew of no other cases.
“I have no information about multiple cases of it,” he said.
The unusual disease has been in the national news lately as the case of 24-year-old Georgia college student Aimee Copeland captured attention as she battled the flesh-eating bacteria.
Copeland had one leg, the other foot and both hands amputated, but recently was able to leave the Augusta, Ga., hospital that saved her life.
Copeland reported that she’d contracted the bacteria after cutting open her calf in a fall.
• Contact reporter Pat Forgey at 523-2250 or patrick.forgey@juneauempire.com.
Comments (6)
Add commentCome on!
Who what when where. It's not that hard Pat. Where did he contract the bacteria? Most cases are related to warm water swimming. Was he swimming in Juneau? Was it not related to water? Was it Auke Lake? Did he get it fishing? Was it the downtown pool or maybe a neighbors hot tub?
Strep A
I spent 4 nights at Bartlett with a serious Strep A (Streptococcus Pyogenes) infection to the right middle finger two months ago. That is the same bacteria that causes necrotising fasciitis and I had many of it's symptoms: excruciating pain from a tiny injury, red streaks all the way to my armpit, blisters on the finger, low blood pressure and fever. A week later all the skin on that finger had hardened and died, and new skin formed. Two months after the finger is still arthritic and swollen and the site of the original infection is an unhealed hole 3/8" long. Probably the only thing that saved my hand was very prompt (I was in the E.R. within an hour of symptoms starting) skilled and aggressive medical treatment by the E.R. doctors. For "concerned"; there is no way to know where it was contracted. Warm water swimming is a very rare way to contract it. There's a site called "Wikipedia" that may be of some interest on this subject.
Not the only case
Pretty sure someone else here in Juneau lost a leg from the virus.
Before Western Civilization
The devil's club plant was used to fight infection,on the surface, and internally. I am not saying this is what to do, I am just telling the story as it was passed down to me.
Surface infection/cut:
(1) flush injured skin area with clean water
(2) gather devils club roots,wash off the soil, then scrape the suface off the root and save these scrapings (its like scraping the surface of a scraggly carrot). Toss the center of the root;as it is very toxic.
(3) chew the devil's club root scrapings,and rub your saliva (saliva only) into the injured area....repeat a few times for a start...then as needed.Follow this with devil's club tea.
Internal infection:
(1) gather devil's club stalk (with needles),without stems,leaves,or top bulb....run cut stalks under water to remove obvious loose dirt.
(2) cut the devil's club stalk into sections that will fit into available pot,fill pot with water,cover, and bring to a 2 hour boil (it takes 2 hours of boiling).
(3) strain the boiled product twice,to get rid of particles,then store in cool spot (refrigerator/ in mason jars).
(4) drink 1/2 cup a day for 3 weeks to fight internal infection.
Remember, this is just an old story of ancient healing methodes.....everyone should use their modern day doctors/treatment/medcine.
facitis
My step son had that n hope everything goes ok for both of you. He was in the hospital almost 6 months n suffered greatly n it was located on his bottom part of his calf. ICU was not fun for him n now he speaks about it in WI after the doctors treated him and asked him to do it to groups of people. GOOD LUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
@concerned
This has nothing to do with swimming and hot tubs.
I'm "concerned" you may have missed this part of the story, concerned:
“Any time you have any break in the skin — a cut, an insect bite, a scrape — any time the skin is compromised in an way,” the bacteria can get into the body, he said.
Ana Pereyra said that’s what happened in her husband’s case.
“It was a simple splinter in his hand,” she said.