Heroin users under threat from flesh-eating virus
Health officials in Glasgow have issued an alert after two cases of a rare flesh-eating bug were diagnosed among drug users.
The Greater Glasgow and Argyll & Clyde health boards said the cases of necrotising fasciitis had come to light in the last week during routine checks of drug addicts.
Injecting drug users are more vulnerable to the potentially fatal illness, sometimes known as ’flesh-eating disease’, because it commonly enters the body through broken skin.
The two cases surfaced during surveillance work by hospitals, GPs, and drug-user services set up in the wake of an outbreak of the clostridium bacteria last year.
More than 30 heroin users in the UK and Ireland died in the last year after they were infected by clostridium, with the largest number of cases concentrated in Glasgow.
Dr Jim McMenamin, consultant in public health at Greater Glasgow Health Board, said of the necrotising fasciitis outbreak: ‘‘This illness is reminiscent of the outbreak of severe infection that affected drug injectors last year.
‘‘For that reason we have taken the unusual step of informing medical services and drug agencies at the earliest opportunity of our investigations before we are certain that a widespread problem exists.
‘‘We would advise drug users not to inject and if their addiction is such that they must take heroin, it should be smoked and not injected.’’
About 1,000 cases of necrotising fasciitis are diagnosed in the UK each year, with about 60 to 80 proving fatal.
The disease commonly begins in an established wound or broken skin before penetrating the tissues beneath the skin, causing blisters to form.
Flu-like symptoms and diarrhoea can also occur, with patients developing toxic shock syndrome as the disease spreads to the underlying tissues.
If caught early, it can be treated with antibiotics, but more drastic surgery can involve the removal of skin and even limbs to halt the spread of the bacteria.
