Flesh Eating Disease

Flesh eating disease or flesh eating bacteria is a rare yet serious bacterial infection of the deep skin layers that begin in the subcutaneous tissues and spreads along the flat fascial layers of tissue, separating different layers of soft tissue, like muscle and fat. Also referred to as Necrotizing Fasciitis (NF), this disease can be easily found in the legs, arms and abdominal wall, and is critical in 30-40% of cases. Common symptoms include swelling, redness, pain and blisters in the affected area, fever, vomiting, nausea and other flulike signs. These symptoms develop quite rapidly within a day’s time of the wound allowing the bacteria to invade the tissues underneath the skin.