Woman's flu symptoms turns out to be flesh-eating bacteria ravaging her body

Serious medical ailments can come in all forms, sometimes when you least expect it. For example waking up with swollen face could be the symptom of a rare tumour, while feeling 'pins and needles,' could actually be a sign of brain disease.

To make matters worse, it is not unheard of, for people to be attacked by flesh-eating bacteria, whose symptoms could be easily confused.

In another such case, as reported by New York Post, a woman thought she was having flu, but the reality turned out to be way more horrifying. Her body was in fact, being ravaged by a flesh-eating bacteria.

Flu symptoms turns out to be flesh-eating disease

The incident happened in the Netherlands. Tracy de Jongh Eglin, 59, started having symptoms of flu. However, five days later, she went into septic shock and collapsed.

She was immediately rushed into the hospital, where doctors found a large dark-coloured mass on her left buttock.

The doctors soon informed Eglin that she had necrotizing fasciitis, a life-threatening bacterial infection, which causes necrosis of the muscle fascia and subcutaneous tissues. The patient was given only 10% chance of survival.

Despite spending 9 days in coma, and undergoing 3 surgeries to remove all the infected tissues from her body, Eglin survived the ordeal.

The patient has been left with a 20cm deep wound

Eglin speaks about her ordeal saying,

It’s been so traumatic and changed my life forever.

I’ve lost [70 pounds] and had to learn to walk again. Even now, I still can’t sit down and have to take a special pillow out with me wherever I go.

She has been left with a wound about 20cm deep on the area where the bacteria attacked the flesh on her body. It is still not clear how exactly she might have contracted the infection.

As per doctors, all the bacteria needs is a break in the skin to be able to enter the body.

Eglin is still on the arduous path to recovery, and is making progress towards a healthy life despite the horrifying medical nightmare she and her family went through.

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Sources used:

New York Post: ' I thought I had the flu — it was a flesh-eating disease that ravaged my butt'