Albert Allison is back home after a scare of a lifetime with Vibrio vulnificus, more commonly known as a flesh-eating disease.
He was discharged from a rehabilitation center on Sept. 14 and is doing better than he expected.
“I have nurses who come to our home and change the dressing every day,” he said.
“(I am) starting to think about going back to our dock in about a month to catch some more fish. This time I will wear gloves and long pants. No one could get infected by Vibrio a second time … right?” he said in a text message.
The bacteria causing Vibrio can lurk in a mix of fresh water and salt water, where infection can come on rapidly through an open wound and can be life-threatening without early treatment
The 88-year-old became infected after standing on a dock fishing in the Windstar on Naples Bay community in East Naples in late August.
He was hospitalized at NCH Baker Hospital and given intensive antibiotic treatment and transferred to Encompass Health, a rehabilitation center in North Naples, to get his strength back.
His feet never got wet so he may never know how he contracted Vibrio. He became the first case of the infection in Collier County this year.
Lee County has one case reported in May. Statewide there have been 25 cases so far this year and five deaths.
Here is what to know about the bacteria
Vibrio infections often spike after tropical storms and hurricanes when people are standing in brackish water that is a mix of saltwater and the freshwater that carries the bacteria. They are doing clean-up work after storm surge and can get infected through a small wound.
There were a record 82 Vibrio vulnificus cases last year and 19 deaths in Florida, most of them after October when large areas of the state were flooded by back-to-back hurricanes Helene and Milton.
In 2022, Collier and Lee counties saw an unusual increase in cases because of the impacts of Hurricane Ian, with 74 cases and 17 deaths reported, according to the University of Florida.
A common way that people get infected is by having a cut or open wound allowing the bacteria to get into the bloodstream. From there, it destroys the flesh and tissue around the wound, according to the state Department of Health.
Another way is by eating raw or undercooked oysters.
How did he get Vibrio?
Allison frequently fishes off a shuttle boat dock in Windstar, takes his catch home and cleans it for eating. On that August day, he had caught several black drum. But his feet never got wet so he was mystified how he got an infection.
The next day he noticed a bruise-like marking on his left calf that soon became painful. He headed to the NCH emergency room.
In hindsight, he thinks maybe there might have been a skin nick since he is older and his skin is not so thick anymore.
“(The infection) was just rapidly getting bigger,” he said while in the rehab center. “My condition was changing rapidly. It was heading toward my knee.”
How is lower left leg looked was pretty shocking.
“It was the ugliest looking thing,” he said. “All the skin died. It turned black and blistered. The blisters started to pop.”
He was admitted at NCH and blood work confirmed the infection. He was put on a heavy regime of antibiotics and wound care.
The hospital never had to remove any damaged skin or tissue, and was told he did not need skin grafts.
After two or three days of antibiotic treatment, the situation improved.
“It was being contained. It was not spreading,” he said.
He stayed in NCH until Sept. 8. Doctors thought after the Vibrio was controlled, the best thing for him would be rehabilitation to get him up and strong again.
That’s when he was admitted to Encompass Health in North Naples. He gained more strength each day until he was able to go home and continue his recovery.
This article originally appeared on Marco Eagle: Man home after Vibrio vulnificus infection in East Naples; fishing back on his mind
Reporting by Liz Freeman, Naples Daily News / Marco Eagle
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
