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Case Reports
. 2010 Oct;48(10):3794-6.
doi: 10.1128/JCM.00491-10. Epub 2010 Aug 4.

Unusual "flesh-eating" strain of Escherichia coli

David Grimaldi  1 , Stéphane Bonacorsi, Hélène Roussel, Benjamin Zuber, Hélène Poupet, Jean-Daniel Chiche, Claire Poyart, Jean-Paul Mira
Affiliations
Case Reports

Unusual "flesh-eating" strain of Escherichia coli

David Grimaldi et al. J Clin Microbiol. 2010 Oct.

Abstract

We report an exceptional case of life-threatening Escherichia coli-induced necrotizing fasciitis. A combined host-pathogen genetic analysis explained the phenotype: the host displayed a susceptibility to intravascular coagulation, and the strain was capable of producing a necrotic toxin (cytotoxic necrotizing factor 1), showing how E. coli can be a dermonecrotic pathogen.

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Figures

FIG. 1.
FIG. 1.
Leg necrotizing fasciitis. (A and B) Preoperative exam showed large bullae and skin necrosis; (C) extensive debridement was performed; (D and E) a histopathological exam showed massive dermic and hypodermic neutrophilic infiltration (arrows) (D) with vasculitis (arrowheads) and small-vessel thrombi (arrow) (E).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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