Written by Amal Allam
Monday, April 03, 2023 03:07 PM
A 3-year-old girl develops a rare bacterial infection after being bitten by a lizard, from California, and was bitten by a type of herbivorous lizard from the iguana, as the family of the child, from San Jose, California, was vacationing on the picturesque beaches of Costa Rica last May when the attack occurred.
Lena, who was three years old at the time, was eating the cake when the iguana, which usually only goes for plants, bit her. The bite developed a bacterial infection, and a lump about 1 inch (2.5 cm) in diameter developed over the following months..
While humans commonly become infected with the bacterium Mycobacterium marinum through exposure to contaminated water, medics believe this is the first case caused by an iguana.
And while Lina continues to recover, her mother, Louisa, told the researchers, who will share her case at an infectious disease conference later this month, the wound is just closing, and the whole healing process has taken on more force than the sting itself..
Lena’s hand before surgery
And the newspaper added, that Lina is the bravest child we can imagine, and she handles the situation well. Perhaps she will never forget the experience, but we hope that one day we will laugh at what happened..
After the iguana bite, Lina was taken to a clinic in Costa Rica where her wound was cleaned. She was given some amoxicillin as a precaution, as she is considered Antibiotics Routine treatment for iguana bites, as the animals are known to carry salmonella, another type of bacteria that can cause infection. Initially, the bite healed well, with no complications..
But 5 months later, back in California, Lina’s parents noticed a small bump had appeared at the site of the bite, while the surrounding skin had turned red and a little sore..
Doctors at Stanford Children’s Health in California initially suspected that Lina’s lump was a ganglion cyst, a relatively minor disease in which a fluid-filled sac develops near a tendon. It usually goes away on its own without treatment, but the unusual location of the tumor, and Lina’s symptoms The other, raised their concerns, so they recommended surgery to remove it. In November, surgeons cut a 0.8-inch (2 cm) lump from the bite site and noticed some pus — an indication of a possible infection. Lab tests revealed the bacteria were Mycobacterium marinus which is known to cause a tuberculosis-like disease in fish Infection can occur in people who have a scratch or cut exposed to water contaminated with the slow-growing bacteria Symptoms, such as a skin lesion and swollen lymph nodes, can take months to appear.
And according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”, some types of infection improve on their own, while others require treatment or surgery in severe cases, while it was known to infect humans before, such infection was not recorded from the bite of the iguana. , and suggest that iguanas can harbor the bacteria and transmit it to humans.
The lizards, which are found in Central and South America, as well as some Caribbean islands, can grow to about 6.5 feet (2 meters) long. Doctors note that Mycobacterium marinum is resistant to amoxicillin. Lena was given an antibiotic, so she was prescribed a different type to remove more traces. from her body.
Dr. Jordan Mah, an expert in medical microbiology from Stanford University, said the cold-blooded nature of the iguana could make it an ideal host for this type of bacteria, and with body temperatures ranging from 22 to 37 degrees Celsius (72 to 81 Fahrenheit), You may maintain these microbes as reservoirs.
Dr Mah added that the case demonstrates that iguanas can carry unusual bacteria harmful to humans, which may help clinicians dealing with similar cases. A report on Lena’s case will be presented at the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases in Copenhagen, Denmark from April 15. .
