Waterborne bacteria

[fryedaze]

Sharing our story so others are informed.
This spring while cruising back north from Florida my wife contracted what the doctors believe is Vibrio. Based on its progression we believe it was from wet fenders or lines when we were in Charleston SC. She had an abrasion on her left big toe and a small cut on a toe on her right foot. Within a few days the toes began to blister and within a week it spread to most of her toes. We went to and infectious disease doctor and he put her on three oral antibiotics for 10 days. After ten days and little improvement and continued spreading she was hospitalized for four days and given three IV antibiotics. The IVs did the trick and things improved. She was then sent home with a Picc line so she could continue IV antibiotics for another week at home.
The lesson learned for me is to be aware of any cuts or abrasions when in contact with warm waters. If you do have contact immediately rinse with a mild Clorox and water solution.
In some cases people die quickly if this stuff gets into their system, especially if they have liver disease or a compromise immune system.

https://www.cdc.gov/vibrio/index.html

 

[Fletcher500]

Good to hear your wife is doing better. Good reminders about feet in particular, that is where the trouble usually starts.

 

[Benthic2]

Glad to hear it was caught and corrected in time. I always though salt water was pretty clean for bacteria since a lot of community pools when I was a kid used salt water instead of chlorine to keep germs down. Great post...thanks!!

 

[Dwk]

My wife scraped her hand on a barnacle last july in the Chesapeake Bay resulting in dark blisters. She tried antibiotic cream, no luck. Dr prescribed meds and it very slowly when away. We were told its commonly found in home aquariums water.

 

[Miz Trom]

Thank you very much for posting about your wife's horrible experience to alert us all. Washing cuts with a mild bleach solution after contacting seawater seems like a very good idea.


I was surprised to see on the Vibrio website you linked that people who are taking a medicine to reduce stomach acid are also more susceptible to this:

 

[BandB]

It's scary and 1 in 4 die from it. There are other horrible bacteria too. Don't take any injury or infection lightly. Assume they're all life threatening.

 

[hmason]

I wear heavy rubber gloves when cleaning sea strainers. You should too. Hope your wife is fine now.

 

[fryedaze]

Thank you very much for posting about your wife's horrible experience to alert us all. Washing cuts with a mild bleach solution after contacting seawater seems like a very good idea.


I was surprised to see on the Vibrio website you linked that people who are taking a medicine to reduce stomach acid are also more susceptible to this:

I missed that. That must be for ingesting it into your system, like eating oysters. Lots of people on Nexium, Prilosec etc.

 

[fryedaze]

I wear heavy rubber gloves when cleaning sea strainers. You should too. Hope your wife is fine now.

Thanks, she is doing well.

 

[MurrayM]

Our bodies are an ecosystem (about 1/2 the cells in and on our bodies are not our own)

Glad it all worked out.

 

[Delfin]

Wow... So glad your wife is ok, but that must have been a very scary experience. Thanks for the heads up....

 

[MYTraveler]

I got a nasty infection once under similar circumstances. It started with a little infection on a cut on my feet (from scuba diving with fins but not booties, with sand getting stuck between the fin and my foot, abrading my feet in the process (but not badly enough for me to give it a second thought). Turned into a nasty case of blood poisoning. IV antibiotics did the trick, but even after my first courses, the infection (marked by bright red swollen legs) continued to spread at an inch an hour. (I market the line with indelible ink every hour -- the doctors were impressed.) Anyway, I was out of the country when I first developed symptoms but thought I could/should wait until returning a few days later to the states. By the time I got on the plane, I couldn't wear shoes and my feet were a mess. I have since been told that I was lucky to survive. Now, anytime I get a cut that is exposed to seawater, I wash it thoroughly with hydrogen peroxide. Stings like an SOB, but it is comforting to imagine the germs hurting even worse.

 

[boomerang]

Thank you for the reminder, since we're entering the warm water season here on the Chesapeake. I'm glad your wife is on the mend and I showed this thread to mine so she would be careful. I've gotten infected twice with a very aggressive water-borne disease. The first time ,I knelt down in a bilge and put a small puncture through the skin on my knee while cleaning a sea water strainer and another getting sea water in an existing cut while pulling a line out of the water. Both times it only took a few hours before the swelling started. As soon as I called the doctors office they requested I get in ASAP. Luckily the antibiotics did the trick for both cases.

 

[Lepke]

I use to dive in the tropics a lot. It's common to get an ear infection if you don't flush out your ears or wear some sort of plugs. Also bare skin on coral will quickly get infected unless drenched.

 

[siestakey]

Thanks so much for sharing and really glad to hear your wife is doing better

 

[wkearney99]

PICC lines are no fun. Shower prep is a hassle. Big-ass Tegaderm patches are helpful, if pricey. Amazon has some lycra stretchy PICC line sleeves that help keep the end from getting caught against your clothes.

I remind anyone swimming to never touch or brush up against anything like a piling or the boat running gear. That and use the transom shower hose to rinse off right after getting out of the water.

 

[wkearney99]

Thank you for the reminder, since we're entering the warm water season here on the Chesapeake.

Calvert county (Maryland) has issued some warnings in the past regarding vibrio.

MD DNR has a website with water info.

EOTB Swimming and Beach Health Links

There's also one for Maryland beaches.

Maryland Healthy Beaches program provides information about the condition of public beaches.

And specific info regarding vibrio.

Learn About Vibrio Baceria

Bottom line, no open wounds going into water and immediately clean any should you suffer an injury. We keep hand sanitizer on board, in addition to a freshly stocked first aid kit.

 

[diver dave]

I had no idea, thanks for posting. I'm thinking all along I'm better off in the ocean to escape suda monis!

 

[sum escape]

Thanks for sharing this Dave. So glad Betsy is doing well. Enjoy your Summer.

Tom and Julie
Lying Trenton, ON

 

[BandB]

Thanks, she is doing well.

One question. Was she wearing shoes or barefoot on the boat?

 

[Fletcher500]

I am in the water 3 - 4 days per week, year round since I was very young and have dealt with some of the aforementioned water hazards and infections. The previous advice given regarding wounds, cleaning, etc is all very good.

 

[fryedaze]

Thanks for sharing this Dave. So glad Betsy is doing well. Enjoy your Summer.

Tom and Julie
Lying Trenton, ON

Thanks Tom, all is well. We wish we were in Trenton[emoji3]

 

[fryedaze]

One question. Was she wearing shoes or barefoot on the boat?

Barefoot, we are always barefoot. Thats changing.

 

[dhays]

Someone mentioned H2O2 as a disinfectant. I know it is effective against most common pathogens (used a lot in eyecare disenfection) but I don’t know how effective it is against waterborne pathogens. Anyone have an idea?

Also, I am rarely in what would be considered “warm” water. Usually the best we can manage is “not-god-awful-cold”. I imagine the risk is less, but anyone know how much less?

 

[BandB]

Barefoot, we are always barefoot. Thats changing.

That's one more reason we wear shoes, just part of the whole injury aspect along with broken toes and such. I look at the yachting industry which has somehow perpetuated the need to take off your shoes to step aboard and it just strikes me that boats from $20 million to $200 million are deemed unable to hold up to shoes. Really? Shoes are going to mark the floors and damage them?

And if I'm going to get in the water and touch bottom walking, I wear water shoes as too much metal and glass discarded in waterways along with rocks and growth that can cut.

I find incidents like this one scary and find the food issues even more so. Foodborne illnesses increase each year.

 

[dhays]

I agree BandB. I don't go barefoot. Maybe it was too many years on sailboats where going barefoot was just asking for foot injuries? I also don't use flip-flops for similar reasons.



However, our immune systems do a pretty good job of protecting us from infection. While we occasionally can acquire an infections, every day our bodies fight off potential infections and we are never aware of it. I think it is wise to be prudent, but I wouldn't stress about it.

 

[fryedaze]

That's one more reason we wear shoes, just part of the whole injury aspect along with broken toes and such. I look at the yachting industry which has somehow perpetuated the need to take off your shoes to step aboard and it just strikes me that boats from $20 million to $200 million are deemed unable to hold up to shoes. Really? Shoes are going to mark the floors and damage them?

And if I'm going to get in the water and touch bottom walking, I wear water shoes as too much metal and glass discarded in waterways along with rocks and growth that can cut.

I find incidents like this one scary and find the food issues even more so. Foodborne illnesses increase each year.

I hear ya! Our practices will change. That being said, I dislike wearing shoes and I can't wait to ditch the socks when weather gets warm.

 

[StMike]

I have a form of hemochromatosis. Many of us do. It is the primary reason we are selling our boat. Last weekend I had a leak and my slightly cut hand was exposed to our local water. I gave my wife explicit instructions to give the doctors in the ER if i became infected. Those with iron overload disorders (like myself) can expire in 24 hours in lieu of the great outcome your wife had. I am happy for you both. It could have been much worse.
My best to you
BT

 

[gaston]

Bare foot and shorts otherwise I will give up boating .The water must be a 100% cleaner here.

Showed this to a Dr friend he has never seen this before but did say it can be picked up from public showers and how dose anyone prevent getting there feet wet when boating or swimming.So shoes aren't the answer

 

[wkearney99]

I look at the yachting industry which has somehow perpetuated the need to take off your shoes to step aboard and it just strikes me that boats from $20 million to $200 million are deemed unable to hold up to shoes. Really? Shoes are going to mark the floors and damage them?

It's more the filth from streets, parking lots, sidewalks, etc. I've worn boat shoes for ages and a pair I keep on board are much kinder to light colored decking. Wear the street pair and there's filthy footprints and often scratches from bits caught in the soles. Eventually when a pair gets too worn for being presentable they become bilge shoes, kept in the engine room.

But a pair of dark rubber shoes will end up leaving dark scuffs. I want less work when boating, not more due to someone's crappy shoe choices.

When washing or working on the boat I definitely wear shoes. Too much else going on to suffer stubbing toes.

When the kids go ashore they wear their water shoes (sandals).