24yo Georgia woman battles flesh-eating bug looses hands and remaining foot.

[Sonny]

The news stories just keep get worse for this poor girl.
Yesterday I read that she might lose some fingers, but this says she's lost her hands and feet, she's she being eaten alive.

eta: The SFGate article is better than the CNN. Has interview of Andy Copeland,
Aimee's father.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...1D94.DTL&tsp=1

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Georgia woman loses hands, remaining foot to flesh-eating bug

(CNN) -- The rare, aggressive bacteria that have infected a University of West Georgia graduate student have taken a further toll: Doctors have amputated both hands and the remaining foot of 24-year-old Aimee Copeland, according to a blog on the school's website.

The masters psychology student had already lost a leg and soft tissue from her torso to the bacteria.
...
snip-->
necrotizing fasciitis caused by the flesh-devouring bacteria Aeromonas hydrophila. She was flown to Augusta for the first of what has turned into a series of surgical procedures.

Among them has been a tracheotomy.

Copeland, who has been on life support since May 4, regained consciousness a week later, the school's website said.

Aimee Copeland, 24

[Auburn Boy]

Awful,

We have been following this story all week.

Amazing how you can catch something so life threatening from doing something so seemingly innocuous.

[CanadaSue]

Damn! I was horrified at how much she's already lost & the risk that she might lose her FINGERS.

I can't begin to imagine how I might struggle to cope with this. The initial loss of body parts is hard enough but the hits just keep coming.

And frankly at this stage, her very survival is far from certain.

[Catbird]

And now there's a 3rd case in Georgia.

3 cases of flesh eating bacteria in Southeast

"A Cartersville landscaper has become the third person in the Southeast to contract a flesh eating bacterial infection in recent weeks.

Doctors insist there is no link or common cause among the victims, but it is bizarre given how rare the condition is."

[sandyd]

If she survives it will be amazing.

And if she does, then what?

[Antropologo]

Originally Posted by Catbird

And now there's a 3rd case in Georgia.

So far these have occurred in West Georgia (i.e. near Rome, GA), near Cartersville (which isn't too far from there) and the Greenville woman contracted the symptoms after having given birth in Atlanta.

Sounds like ominous for the Northwest Georgia folks.

[Catbird]

Originally Posted by Antropologo

So far these have occurred in West Georgia (i.e. near Rome, GA), near Cartersville (which isn't too far from there) and the Greenville woman contracted the symptoms after having given birth in Atlanta.

Sounds like ominous for the Northwest Georgia folks.

Yep, I noticed that too as DH has family in the area. I was wondering if the bacteria count might be higher due to the extremely mild winter we had. I read several articles today that tick-borne disease has skyrocketed in TN this year with the mild winter allowing for an explosion in the tick population. Different disease and vector of course but possibly the same cause and effect.

[Potemkin]

Never mind, it looks like the article was update.

The story of Copeland's battle to survive has inspired an outpouring of support from around the world. The University of West Georgia student developed a rare condition called necrotizing fasciitis after suffering a deep cut in her leg in a May 1 fall from a homemade zip line over the Little Tallapoosa River.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...#ixzz1vYLhCWqo

[Kassy]

Originally Posted by Antropologo

So far these have occurred in West Georgia (i.e. near Rome, GA), near Cartersville (which isn't too far from there) and the Greenville woman contracted the symptoms after having given birth in Atlanta.

Sounds like ominous for the Northwest Georgia folks.

What they call three outbreaks of flesh eating bacteria could be three very different strains. I don't think Aeromonas hydrophila is likely to be involved in the last case. That one's much more likely to be MRSA.

A list of bacterial suspects can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Necrotizing_fasciitis