A deadly bacterium which is known as flesh eating bacteria is spreading at a record in Japan. The capital of Japan Tokyo has become the hotspot.
This Streptococcal toxic shock syndrome is an aggressively illness which can take life within 48 hours of infection.
At around 145 cases has reported in Tokyo alone till this year. In Japan this case has reached 977 cases. The majority people infected by the disease are adults over whose age over 30 years. While the death rate has hovered around 30% as per report by the local news.
In the year 2023 the disease record 941 cases, as report by Japan’s National Infectious Diseases Institute.
Streptococcus pyogenes, the “flesh-eating” bacteria, usually causes strep throat but can sometimes cause severe conditions like limb death and organ failure.
Group A Streptococcus (GAS) often causes “strep throat” in children which leads to a swollen and sore throat.
However, some strains can cause several symptoms like limb pain and swelling, fever and low blood pressure. These can quickly worsen into necrosis, breathing problems, organ failure, and even death. People over 50 are particularly at risk.
According to Ken Kikuchi, a professor in infectious diseases at Tokyo Women’s Medical University, most deaths occur within 48 hours. “If a patient notices foot swelling in the morning, it can spread to the knee by noon, and they can die within 48 hours,” he told Bloomberg
In the year 2022, at least five Europeon nations reported to the World Health Organization an increase in cases of invasive group A streptococcus (iGAS) disease, including STSS.
The rise in cases followed the end of Covid restriction, WHO said.
At the current rate of infections, Japan could see 2,500 cases this year, with a “terrifying” 30% death rate, Kikuchi said.
