• Home
  • News
    • Politics & Government
    • Business & Economy
    • Crime / Courts
    • Health / Medicine
  • Sports
    • High School Sports
    • Radio Iowa Poll
  • Affiliates
    • Affiliate Support Page
  • Contact Us
    • Reporters

Radio Iowa

Iowa's Radio News Network

You are here: Home / Health / Medicine / NW Iowa woman survives bout with flesh-eating disease

NW Iowa woman survives bout with flesh-eating disease

June 11, 2012 By Matt Kelley

Six patients who were afflicted with a flesh-eating bacteria were treated in the past several weeks at an Omaha hospital, including at least one Iowan.

The condition is very rare and is often deadly. The Iowa woman survived. Jane Bisenius is from Schaller and says she first saw the spot on her arm on April 12th.

“I noticed in the morning a little round, pinkish-red circle on my elbow, my left elbow,” Bisenius says. “On my way home, that red dot swelled up to an oval about the size of a cupped hand and it became very hot and painful, my arm did.”

When that spot on her arm swelled to the size of a softball, Bisenius’ daughter, a doctor, told her to get to an emergency room right away. Bisenius had surgery at a Spencer hospital and she seemed to be getting better for a while, but things quickly worsened.

“We could see the redness spreading up and down the arm about an inch every 15 to 20 minutes,” she says.

That’s when Bisenius was airlifted to the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. When she arrived, she had a temperature of 104-degrees and was extremely sick.

Doctors say the cause of her condition was a staph infection. She spent eight days at the hospital, being treated in the hyperbaric oxygen unit. She has recovered but will continue to receive physical therapy so she can regain the full use of her arm.

Dr. Jeffery Sartin is an infectious disease specialist at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. He says people shouldn’t panic, as this type of case usually only appears in the region two or three times a year.

“There are some stories that get in the news that are very dramatic and tragic, really, but these are very, very rare,” Dr. Sartin says. “There are a lot of bad things that can happen to you out there and there are probably others that are more likely that you should worry about.”

The affliction is called necrotizing fasciitis and it kills 30 to 40-percent of the people who become infected.

Generally, he says, the flesh-eating bacteria does not spread from one person to another.

“In most cases, if somebody gets it and you’re in contact with them, you’re at no great risk,” Sartin says. “There are a few exceptions.

For instance, if somebody has a staph infection, especially the resistant staph called MRSA, if you live in a household with that person, you are more likely to have MRSA on your body, but that doesn’t mean you’re going to get a bad skin infection.”

A Georgia woman who recently went zip-lining and landed in a river contracted a severe case of the disease. She had to have both hands and a leg amputated.

The Nebraska Medical Center has the area’s only Level One hyperbaric oxygen unit.

Share this:

  • Facebook
  • Twitter

Filed Under: Health / Medicine, News

Featured Stories

Final employee who was there at the launch of the Iowa Lottery to retire

No more USPS mail in Iowa prisons; inmates to get copies of mail

State officials warn of influx of fake prescription drugs laced with fentanyl

‘Brain-eating amoeba’ discovered in Taylor County lake

Cedar Rapids therapist’s relationship with student leads to years in prison

TwitterFacebook
Tweets by RadioIowa

Hutchinson calls Iowa State a perfect fit

Northern Iowa’s Farley touts new practice facility

First minor league game gets things started tonight at Field of Dreams site

Knoxville set to host sprint car racing’s biggest event

Iowa State basketball builds on its identity

More Sports

eNews and Updates

Enter your email address:

Delivered by FeedBurner

Archives

Copyright © 2022 ยท Learfield News & Ag, LLC