“Surge in Flesh-Eating Bacteria Infections: What You Need to Know”

Hundreds of patients have reported to the hospital in recent months with an infection from a flesh-eating bacteria, reports the AD. There is one remarkable increase. In the first two and a half months of this year alone, RIVM counted 374 infections with the group A streptococci (GAS bacteria).

“It is striking, according to the RIVM, that there were eighteen reports of meningitis in that short period. That is a lot: for the past forty years, the meningitis institute NRLBM, which keeps track of this, has had an average of only five patients per year with the bacteria. There was already a small increase last year: in 2022 there were nineteen cases.”

In countries such as the United Kingdom, France and Ireland, more people are also becoming infected with group A streptococcus. Last year, the flesh-eating bacteria was mainly seen in children, now the infection is observed in all age groups.

The experts are not yet sure what the reason for the sudden increase in the number of infections is. The RIVM writes: “It is not known how this is. However, people who are infected with a virus, such as the flu virus or chickenpox, may have a greater chance of getting a serious infection with group A streptococci. It may also be that more people are susceptible to the bacteria or to those viruses. This may be because in recent years people have come into less contact with viruses and bacteria due to the corona measures. The emergence of a certain type of the bacteria (M1UK) may also be contributing to the increase in invasive group A Streptococcal infections.“

Symptoms of an infection are: pneumonia, blood poisoning or inflammation of the skin, joints or bones. “Most of the patients have deep infections in the skin,” says doctor-microbiologist Bert Mulder of the CWZ hospital in Nijmegen to the AD. “The most important characteristic is pain: people pull their leg or arm back just by pointing at it.” The infection can be treated with antibiotics.