title: Two cases of severe sepsis due to Vibrio vulnificus wound infection acquired in the Baltic Sea.
abstract: Two severe cases of Vibrio vulnificus wound infection with secondary septicemia occurred during 1 week in August 2003 on the German island of Usedom in the southwestern Baltic Sea. In both cases, pre-existing wounds were inoculated by wading in contaminated sea water. One of the patients died from septic multiorgan failure. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first fatality due to a V. vulnificus infection to have occurred in Germany. Microbiological analysis revealed high concentrations of V. vulnificus in sea water along the coastline, following a period when water temperature exceeded 20 degrees C for more than 2 weeks.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine B, University of Greifswald, Germany. ruppert@uni-greifswald.de
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Ruppert
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Panzig
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Guertler
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hinz
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Schwesinger
authors.forename: S B
authors.initials: SB
authors.lastname: Felix
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Friesecke
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012623:Seawater / Q000382:microbiology*; D018805:Sepsis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000382:microbiology* / Q000401:mortality; D014735:Vibrio Infections / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000401:mortality; D041261:Vibrio vulnificus / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D014946:Wound Infection / Q000150:complications / Q000382:microbiology*