A young boy had open wounds after getting infected with flesh-eating bacteria during his trip to a Maryland beach.
The boy’s mother, Brittany Carey, wrote on Facebook that after swimming off the coast of Ocean Citrate last week, his son developed the “red gashes all over his body.”
After noticing that his wounds grew, she took him to the Peninsula Regional Medical Center in Salisbury, Maryland. Upon examination, the boy was found to be infected with Vibrio, a type of flesh-eating bacteria, which can rot the skin to cause a condition called necrotizing fasciitis.
Carey wrote, “My little guy got this from being in the bay. Please be careful out there guys and if you start seeing wounds such as these please get somewhere fast!”
Later, she updated the post to say that her son’s pediatrician said the wounds were healing nicely.
This case came to light after a 77-year-old woman died last month after she got infected with flesh-eating bacteria after scrapping her leg at a Florida beach.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Vibrio bacteria can be found in coastal waterways and raw seafood. The CDC said, “There are approximately 80,000 cases of vibriosis each year, with 52,000 coming from ingesting contaminated food, such as oysters.”
