Definition

Flesh-eating disease is more properly called necrotizing fasciitis (pronounced nek-ro-TIZE-ing FASS-ee-i-tiss). The disease is caused by a rare bacterium that destroys tissues lying beneath the skin. The tissue death is called necrosis, or gangrene. It spreads very rapidly and can be fatal.

Description

The term flesh-eating disease is not really correct. However, it does describe what seems to happen in the disease. An infection occurs that seems to consume body tissue. Reports about flesh-eating disease increased during the 1990s. But the disease has been known for a very long time. The Greek physician Hippocrates (c. 460–c. 377b.c.) described the condition more than two thousand years ago. The disease was also common during the Civil War (1861–65).

Flesh-eating disease affects the arms and legs most often, but the infection can occur anywhere on the body.

Causes

In nearly every case, flesh-eating disease begins with a skin...