Necrotizing fasciitis, the so-called “flesh-eating disease,” is a rare but serious infection. While many types of bacteria can cause this, a very severe form is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, sometimes called “flesh-eating bacteria.”
The infection often begins like most others – through a cut or a scrape. However, unlike other infections, this one spreads very quickly as the bacteria do their damage. They grow and release a harmful substance that destroys surrounding tissue and can enter the blood stream.
Infection can also occur in surgery, childbirth, or any type of event that causes a trauma to the body. Necrotizing fasciitis is not contagious, nor is it communicable between people. The only way to get it is to become infected with the bacteria, just as you would get an infection in a cut at any other time.
The bacteria “eat away” at muscles, skin and underlying body tissues. Doctors must act fast to stop the infection before it spreads and before sepsis develops. Sepsis, which was often called blood poisoning, is the body’s life-threatening response to infection. Like strokes or heart attacks, sepsis is a medical emergency that requires rapid diagnosis and treatment.
Sepsis and septic shock can result from an infection anywhere in the body, such as pneumonia, influenza, or urinary tract infections. Worldwide, one-third of people who develop sepsis die. Many who do survive are left with life-changing effects, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), chronic pain and fatigue, organ dysfunction (organs don’t work properly), and/or amputations.
The symptoms of necrotizing fasciitis are much like any type of infection, but they appear more rapidly and are more intense:
Other symptoms may include:
This type of infection, although rare, can happen to anyone at any time. Therefore, it would be important to look at anyone who may be a higher risk of developing any type of infection. These are people who:
Patients in hospitals or healthcare facilities can contract an infection through various ways, such as:
Good hygiene always and quick response to injuries may help reduce the risk of developing an infection.
By ensuring proper and frequent hand washing, you reduce your risk of infection significantly.
By cleaning out wounds as soon as they are noticed, you again reduce the risk.
Once the infection has been stopped, there should be no further problems from the infection itself. However, there may be lasting effects from the treatments, particularly if they included surgery to remove large amount of tissue or amputations.
If the infection is not treated quickly enough or properly, the result is often death.
If you suspect sepsis, call 9-1-1 or go to a hospital and tell your medical professional, “I AM CONCERNED ABOUT SEPSIS.”
The information here is also available as a Sepsis Information Guide, which is a downloadable format for easier printing.
Would you like to share your story about sepsis or read about others who have had sepsis? Please visit Faces of Sepsis, where you will find hundreds of stories from survivors and tributes to those who died from sepsis.
Suggested Citation: Sepsis Alliance. Sepsis and Necrotizing Fasciitis. 2023. https://www.sepsis.org/sepsisand/necrotizing-fasciitis/
Updated May 30, 2023.
I survived mass sepsis after my appendix burst at fifteen. It was not caught in time and destroyed half of my reproductive system. (Sepsis and Appendicitis) I went through months of post sepsis admits. This past year I came down with a sore lymph node under my arm and I literally went to sleep from the pain at the end of April 2022. Finding myself waking up in the I.C.U. with a PICC line an open incision with a vacuum in it from having sepsis with necrotizing fasciitis. After many surgeries and a three week stay in the I.C.U. I ... Read Full Story
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On April 3, 2019, I woke up in the middle of the night shaking uncontrollably. I knew something wasn’t right, but I couldn’t wake my husband. So I laid back down and woke again a few hours later and was sick. I spent most of the next day in pain on my left glute, sick. I started think I had the worst case of the flu I ever had. As the day turned into night, I asked my husband to check my glute, and he insisted I needed to go to the hospital. I was admitted shortly after arriving. I ... Read Full Story
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On September 12th I was diagnosed with sepsis and went into septic shock due to an infection from necrotizing fasciitis. (Sepsis and Necrotizing Fasciitis) I developed a bump on my bottom, had emergency surgery. I woke up in ICU on life support. I was then transferred from Bainbridge GA to Tallahassee FL to another hospital and had more surgery. I have to wear a colostomy bag. Spent a month and a half in the hospital. Have home health and physical therapy. I have to use a cane when I’m walking. Recovery in progress! Read Full Story
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I had gotten home from work and felt fine, just a normal day. I went with my wife down to pick up some hay for her cows and I didn’t feel right. Once we got home I told her I was going to take a shower and try to take a nap, I was feeling worse every minute. I was able to fall asleep, but when I woke up a short time later I had terrible chills and I felt horrible. I went downstairs and got in the shower to try and stop shaking, but it didn’t help. I made ... Read Full Story
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We lost Curtis Von Durham due to sepsis on 12/21/2018. He became ill by a flesh eating infection called necrotizing fasciitis. (Sepsis and Necrotizing Fasciitis) He said he wasn’t feeling well one night before bed, similar to the flu. He developed chills. Felt warm but had no fever. Symptoms were mild and nothing that you would worry about. He didn’t come back from the restroom the next morning and I found him face down and passed out. I dialed 911 and by the time the ambulance arrived, he was awake and in non specific pain. His blood pressure was falling. ... Read Full Story
Submit Your StoryView More StoriesNecrotizing fasciitis, the so-called “flesh-eating disease,” is a rare but serious infection. While many types of bacteria can cause this, a very severe form is caused by Streptococcus pyogenes, sometimes called “flesh-eating bacteria.”
