Treatment
Vibrio vulnificus wound infections have a mortality of approximately 25%. In patients in whom the infection worsens into septicemia, typically following ingestion, the mortality rate rises dramatically to 50%. The majority of these patients die within the first 48 hours of infection. The optimal treatment is not known, but, in one retrospective study of 93 patients in Taiwan, use of a third-generation cephalosporin and a tetracycline (e.g., ceftriaxone and doxycycline, respectively) were associated with an improved outcome. Prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm this finding, but in vitro data support the supposition this combination is synergistic against Vibrio vulnificus. Similarly, the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend treating the patient with a quinolone or intravenous doxycycline with ceftazidime.
V. vulnificus often causes large, disfiguring ulcers that require extensive debridement or even amputation.
V. vulnificus is commonly found in the Pacific Northwest.
Read more about this topic: Vibrio Vulnificus
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