The young American couldn't have suspected that eating leftovers from the refrigerator would almost kill him. After eating a meal, he developed serious he alth problems, as a result of which doctors had to amputate his legs and fingers. The cause turned out to be a serious illness.
He only ate leftovers from the refrigerator
The patient was admitted to the intensive care unit with multiple organ failure, shock and rash. Abdominal pain and nausea started about 20 hours before admission to the hospital, when the teenager ate chicken, rice, and restaurant leftovers stored in the refrigerator. After ailments indicating stomach problems, he developed chills, weakness, muscle pain, shortness of breath, blurred vision or stiff neck, and a few hours before admission to the hospital, purple discoloration was visible on his skin.
After an American was hospitalized, he reported severe muscle aches, which he rated at 8 on a 10-point scale, with 10 being the most painful. During the research, he was anxious and depressed, however, he answered questions, was time, place and situation oriented. Blood and urine samples were taken from him and sent to the laboratory.
The young man's condition continued to deteriorate. There were respiratory problems, cyanosis and hypoxemia. Experts decided to administer oxygen, but within 40 minutes, the systolic blood pressure dropped to 70 mmHg. After the administration of drugs, intubation of the trachea was also performed and mechanical ventilation was started.
Doctors had no choice
The doctors managed to interview the family members of the patient. It turned out that his roommate, who ate the same meal, also vomited, but did not get sick of anything more serious. During further studies, the 19-year-old was subjected to pharmacological sedation. It had a high temperature of 40.8 ° C.
The results surprised the specialists and confirmed that his body contains a gram-negative bacterium that causes meningococcal disease. In turn, the skin lesions were caused by fulminant purpura, which may be a severe and rare consequence of meningococcal disease. While the young man's condition stabilized, the infections were so severe that the doctors had to amputate himall fingers and both legs.
After studying the patient's medical history, they found out why his friend had not suffered from similar ailments. It turned out that the 19-year-old did not receive the first dose of the meningococcal vaccine before he entered junior high, and when he turned 16 he did not receive the recommended booster dose. In turn, the roommate was fully vaccinated.