BY BRENT JOHNSON
SPECIAL TO THE STAR
Here in the warm waters of the Laguna Madre and Gulf of Mexico lurks a villain so sinister it sometimes occupies space in the back of my mind.
I am an avid wade fisherman and there are a few dangers one could encounter after leaving the safe confines of a boat. One obvious danger would be sharks. Now we all know shark attacks are very unlikely, but I will tell you I have seen some sharks in the bay that could definitely remove a good portion of your leg. Sharks, however, are not the villain of this story, nor are stingrays, alligators,rattlesnakes, or Portuguese man o’ war. The main character here is a flesh-eating virus known as Vibrio Vulnificus.
Vibrio Vulnificus is a bacteria present in marine environments such as estuaries, brackish ponds, or coastal areas.
Vibrio most commonly occurs from March to September when temperatures are rising. A long time ago, in the late ‘80s, I first heard about vibrio when a couple of fisherman had been hospitalized after coming into contact with the bacteria. Days later they died. The symptoms of this killer include diarrhea, vomiting, abdominal pain, headaches and blistering dermatitis. After suffering a few days of necrotic skin lesions, the men perished due to progressive septic shock and multi-organ failure. This makes a shark attack look like child’s play.
Last year, a 31-year-old man from Jacinto City, Texas, disregarded the advice not to swim for two weeks after getting a new tattoo. Five days after getting inked he went for a Sunday swim with his family. He was only in the water for a short period of time, but that was all it took for him to come into contact with the deadly bacteria. It is important to note the man was at a higher risk of infection due to suffering from a chronic liver disease. He went to work on Monday without a clue, Tuesday his leg was red, Wednesday he had boils on his leg, Thursday he lost his leg. Two months later he died.
More recently a friend of mine, Tivi Lopez, had an encounter with vibrio when he was night fishing in Rockport. In his words the infection spread quickly. “I had a cut on my thumb that was in the process of healing when I grabbed a trout to remove the hook. Eighteen hours after I had grabbed the fish I started getting a red blister around my cut.”
At that point he popped the blister and cleaned the wound, but it was too late.
“The following morning it went from one small blister to several small ones clustered and a couple of larger ones the size of an almond,” he said. “Although there was no pain I knew something was wrong and went to the doctor to get it checked out. Right away the doctors had a good idea of my diagnosis after I had informed them that I had been fishing two days earlier.”
Forty hours after touching the fish, cellulitis was kicking in and spreadingup Tivi’s arm. “When I came to the ER that night, the doctor and I had adiscussion about losing my hand,” he said. Lucky for Tivi he did not lose his hand thanks to the doctor’s quick prognosis. Tivi was prescribed anaggressive three-day dose of the antibiotic Venococin which is normallyused to treat MRSA, a “super bug” infection resistant to most antibiotics.Because Tivi is diabetic his immune system is compromised from a lack of white blood cells whose sole purposeis to fight infections.
Tivi went on to add that folks with diabetes who fish should keep a small bottle of bleach, peroxide or alcohol handy should they scratch or poke their finger.
Two weeks ago I took my dad and uncle fishing in South Bay. We ended up drifting into some water too shallow to get up in. My first thought was to get out and push the boat a few yards to deeper water, but when I got in I sunk down into the mud to my knees. As I pushed the boat I could feel an oyster shell scrape my leg. At that point I got back in the boat and noticed my leg had a pretty good cut so I poured a Miller Light on it to wash off a bit. When I got back to the condo I took a shower and poured Hydrogen Peroxide on my wound. Like I said, vibrio pays rent in my head sometimes so I was not about to let a bleeding cut go unattended. Had the cut not been so big I probably would have disregarded and gone about my business. Heck I usually poke a finger with a hook, or sometimes cut my hand on a leader when I get in a hurry to tie a tight knot and never give it a thought.
Moving forward I will probably keep a bottle of peroxide in the boat even though I don’t have any ailments I am aware.
If you have cancer, diabetes or cirrhosis of the liver you should be aware of this potential hazard, especially if you have an open wound. Here are five ways to avoid Vibrio infection:
– Avoid swimming with open cuts
– Avoid eating raw or undercooked shellfish
– When water can’t be avoided, cover wounds with water proof bandages
– If a cut occurs while in the water, be sure to clean immediately with peroxide or alcohol.
– Always shower after swimming and wash hands before food consumption.
Experts say the bacteria are nothing most people should worry about as it generally only affects people with compromised immune systems. I say Tivi has nothing to worry about as the docs injected him like a Thanksgiving Turkey with so much of that Venococin his grandkids will be immune. All jokes aside, Tivi is not worried and he will not let it stop him from doing the things he loves like fishing; he will simply be smarter about it after what he has learned.
Brent Johnson is senior fishing writer for South Texas Outdoors. He is an avid angler whose boot prints can be found from South Bay to the Land Cut.
