A Florida teenager is fighting for his life after contracting a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection believed to have entered his body while he was swimming at a local park.
Joziah Thompson, 17, had a cut on the lower part of his left leg, and although his mother had warned him about it, he did not think it was a serious concern when he went swimming with his siblings near Pensacola on Florida’s northwest coast.
At first, nothing appeared to be wrong. But within three days, Thompson was in severe pain, running a fever, and his entire leg had become red, swollen, and hot to the touch.
He was taken to the hospital, where doctors determined he had contracted Vibrio vulnificus, a bacteria found in seawater that can enter the body through open wounds and rapidly destroy surrounding tissue.
Common symptoms include pain, redness, and swelling, but in the most severe cases, the infection can lead to amputation or even prove fatal.
Thompson spent a week in the hospital before being moved to a higher-level medical center in Pensacola, where surgeons removed the infected tissue.
He is ‘not out of the woods yet’, his mother said, and he will require more surgeries and aggressive antibiotics to fight the infection.
Joziah Thompson, 17, took a dip in seawater off Florida’s Northwest coast with a cut on his left leg. Two days later he was left moaning in pain by an infection
His mother told local station WEAR News3: ‘I told them with the scratch to just be careful and mindful. They came home after playing in the water with no issues.
‘[Three days later] he said his leg was really hurting him, and I asked him, “Show me your leg because it shouldn’t be hurting you”.
‘And when I looked at the leg, it was completely red, soft to the touch, and seeping, and I was like, “Wait a minute, this is real; something’s going on”.’
Thompson had been playing in water at Lion’s Park in Niceville, a small coastal park with picnic benches and a boat ramp area, on Monday, June 1.
His mother revealed his infection on a GoFundMe page, which she has started to help with medical expenses.
Shown above is red tissue around the area on his left leg that was infected
His leg is pictured above. He had surgery to remove infected tissue from the lower part of his limb
She has closed her business, local spa JaeKae Luxury Massage and Esthetics, to be by his bedside, but said that it has left the family of nine without their main source of income.
The mother is also calling on authorities to set up an alert system to warn when there is a surge in Vibrio bacteria numbers in the area.
She added: ‘I’m pushing for a system [to be] put in place to know the bacteria levels in local waters. I don’t want this to happen to any other children.
‘My son is 5-foot-11 and 225 pounds. What if this was a 5-year-old who doesn’t have the strength to fight something off like this?’
Vibrio tends to surge between May and October annually, when surface water heats to above 68F, or 20C, favoring the organisms’ growth.
Warning signs of an infection include skin redness or a rash that quickly becomes swollen or painful, as well as fluid-filled blisters, fever, pain and an altered mental state.
In severe cases, the bacteria turn flesh black, potentially leading to an amputation, or can enter the blood and cause the life-threatening complication sepsis.
Older adults, those with a compromised immune system and those who consume seafood are most at risk.
Thompson, who also has autism, was swimming with his siblings two days before the infection
Doctors can treat infections by administering antibiotics or cutting out infected flesh.
Although it is rare, the infection is on the rise and is often deadly. CDC officials say about 150 to 200 infections are recorded every year, and about one in five leads to a fatality.
Nationwide, at least 72 infections were recorded across 12 states last year. Most of the patients were in the South.
So far this year, Florida has reported eight cases of the bacteria. One case each has also been confirmed in Connecticut and Alabama.
