Flesh Eating Virus Attacks Texan, Fighting For His Life
A flesh eating, necrotizing bacteria has attacked a Houston man that was playing in the ocean with his children and grandchildren last week. The man did not know that he had contracted the virus until days later.
As if the virus itself was not enough, the man, named Brian Parrot, had to be hospitalized after he started seeing sores on his legs. The bacteria had done so much damage to his leg that it had to be amputated to stop the spread of the infection, according to KHOU television in Houston.
Man contracts flesh-eating virus in Galveston https://t.co/TQieaMAm5K
— FOX26Houston (@Fox26Houston) June 21, 2016
As of this writing, the flesh-eating virus has not been completely contained and Parrot is still fighting for his life, experiencing extreme amounts of pain as the virus makes its way through his muscle and skin.
Donna Dailey, Parrot’s mother, spoke with KHOU and gave them a grim vision of what Parrot is going through at the moment.
“Today, he made the statement, ‘I don’t know how much more of this I can take,'” Dailey told KHOU. “The problem I have is (Parrott) didn’t know about it. If (his family) had known about it, they surely wouldn’t have put (my) great-grandkids or his grandkids (in the water).”
The ocean is believed to be the source where Parrot contracted the virus. Parrot took his son and grandchild to the beach for some recreational swimming in Galveston last Sunday. The family had spent more than two hours at the beach, which left him exposed to many different possible bacteria that could have been in the area. The son and grandchild have not been reported to have the same condition as Parrot.
The health department in Galveston has said that flesh-eating bacteria like this are known to be living in coastal waters. Although it is rare for humans to contract the disease, they said that it can happen, just like it has in the case with Parrot. The bacteria makes its way into the body through open wounds on the skin, and they most commonly do so when the swimmer is in brackish salt water.
There are other ways of contracting the necrotizing bacteria. The virus can enter a human’s body when they eat undercooked shellfish, which is common with many communities that live close to the ocean and eat local fresh catches.
In 2016 alone, Galveston, Texas, has reported two cases of the necrotizing, flesh eating bacteria infections that have caused similar results as Parrot’s. The other case was when the victim got the virus through a food transmission. But, in 2015, there were eight reported cases of the necrotizing bacteria in Galveston.
Although the health department has not closed off the beaches in Galveston, there were also nine reported cases of the flesh-eating bacteria in both 2013 and 2014.
The necrotizing bacteria is known to have severe consequences for people that contract it, which includes disfigurement and death. It also involves a lot of pain. Those who have had it have gone through a tremendous amount of suffering.
Man in Galveston contracts flesh-eating bacteria, loses leg after day at the beach with family https://t.co/eRuqQMYVNS
— NewsFix (@NewsFixHouston) June 21, 2016
The case with Brian Parrot has not been classified as dire at this point, but that does not mean that he cannot take a turn for the worse. There is still no word yet if he will even survive the infection.
“I’m wanting to know if he’s going to live,” Dailey told KHOU.
At this point, the only thing the doctors have had to remove on Parrot is his leg. If the virus spreads and feeds off more of his tissue, there is a good chance that he will lose more limbs, which could also result in his eventual death.
[Photo by Dave Einsel/Getty Images]
