Necrotizing fasciitis (or "flesh eating disease") is a rare bacterial infection that causes death of the skin and sometimes muscle or other bodily tissue. According to the National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation (NNFF), necrotizing fasciitis is commonly caused by group A Streptococcus bacteria, although it can be the result of infection from many types of bacteria that enter the body through a minor cut or scrape and then rapidly break down tissue and cause spreading infection. Symptoms develop in stages and can quickly become life-threatening.
Early Symptoms
A combination of symptoms typically appears within the first 24 hours of bacterial infection, according to the NNFF. The National Institutes of Health notes that the first sign of infection is often a small, painful spot or bump. There might be increasing redness around the site of the wound and the associated pain is disproportionate to the wound. Flu-like symptoms including nausea, diarrhea, fever, dizziness, weakness, confusion and general malaise are also typically present.
Developing Symptoms
Advanced symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis begin to develop in three to four days after initial infection, according to the NNFF. Developing symptoms include a swelling of the affected limb or area of the body and the formation of a rapidly growing bronze or purplish hue to the skin. The localized region might develop large fluid-filled blisters with a black center that open and ooze fluid. The wound might continue to grow at an extremely fast rate and start to have a necrotic, or bluish, splotchy, dark and flaky, appearance.
Critical and Life-threatening Symptoms
According to the National Institutes of Health, necrotizing fasciitis can cause progressive tissue damage as the infection spreads locally around the original wound. The spreading infection can cause permanent scarring and disfigurement of the skin. If the bacteria invade and destroy muscle tissue in addition to subcutaneous skin tissue (called necrotizing myositis), functional loss of the limbs can also occur. The NNFF states that critical symptoms caused by spreading infection usually occur within four to five days of the appearance of the initial wound. If the infection spreads throughout the body, it can cause sepsis, which is a life-threatening condition in which the immune system's reaction to infection harms tissues far from the original site of infection and causes the bloodstream to become overwhelmed with bacteria. According to the Mayo Clinic, sepsis develops in stages, beginning with symptoms such as a fever above 101.3 degrees Fahrenheit or below 95 degrees Fahrenheit, a heart rate above 90 beats per minute or a respiratory rate higher than 20 breaths per minute. Signs of organ function then emerge, causing symptoms such as acute change in mental status, decreased platelet count, significantly decreased urine output, blotchy or mottled skin patches, abnormal heart function or difficulty breathing. The most serious stage of sepsis is septic shock, which is characterized by symptoms of the earlier stages of sepsis and extremely low blood pressure. Shock can lead to loss of consciousness or death in some people.
