How did an infection from a small wound lead to an infection serious enough to require amputation? Maybe I’m being naive but I can only imagine you have to ignore it quite badly for that to happen…
Rare flesh eating bacteria. There was even talk of chopping off his whole leg at some point and there were multiple operations to get it all out. In the end he was quite happy to only lose his foot.
The underlying problem was that the fibers had entered his body and were mobile, so almost impossible to remove, even in multiple operations. Any secondary problems they caused, such as those bacteria, kept getting worse.
So no, the fibers themselves were definitely a large part of the problem.
Fun fact: the bacteria isn’t rare, it’s actually quite common. You’ll almost certainly get some in any cut you get!
What’s rare is the infection not being fought off naturally. Were I a betting man (I am) I’d say the bacteria had formed the same kind of colony that makes surgical implants such risk factors around the fiberglass.
Tl;Dr because of how phagocytes work (completely engulfing the pathogen) anything that gives a bacteria colony a hard surface to grow on makes it much, much harder for your immune system to eradicate.
How did an infection from a small wound lead to an infection serious enough to require amputation? Maybe I’m being naive but I can only imagine you have to ignore it quite badly for that to happen…
Rare flesh eating bacteria. There was even talk of chopping off his whole leg at some point and there were multiple operations to get it all out. In the end he was quite happy to only lose his foot.
Sure, but that has nothing to do with the insulation. Any wound could have caused that.
It’s like saying “don’t go to the movies cause my cousin got pregnant after going on a date!”
The underlying problem was that the fibers had entered his body and were mobile, so almost impossible to remove, even in multiple operations. Any secondary problems they caused, such as those bacteria, kept getting worse.
So no, the fibers themselves were definitely a large part of the problem.
Fun fact: the bacteria isn’t rare, it’s actually quite common. You’ll almost certainly get some in any cut you get!
What’s rare is the infection not being fought off naturally. Were I a betting man (I am) I’d say the bacteria had formed the same kind of colony that makes surgical implants such risk factors around the fiberglass.
Tl;Dr because of how phagocytes work (completely engulfing the pathogen) anything that gives a bacteria colony a hard surface to grow on makes it much, much harder for your immune system to eradicate.
Oh right that makes sense yikes