An unassuming clout from a dog is being charge for the death of an otherwise respectable German human race . It ’s a strange medical case involving a normally harmless bacteria , but experts say it ’s nothing to worry about and that most of us can continue to permit our click slobber all over us .
homo have bug in their mouths , and so do frank . For the most part , dog germs are n’t a huge consequence except in uncommon cases where homo can get infected by Capnocytophaga canimorsus — a normally harmless bacteria — after gettingbittenby a detent . But as a newcase studypublished in the European Journal of Case Reports in Internal Medicine show , a simple slug from a dog can also set off a bacterial infection .
As detailed in the case subject field , an otherwise healthy 63 - year - quondam man subsist in Germany died from such an infection . The man “ had been touch and lick , but not bitten or injure , by his andiron , his only pet , in previous weeks , ” wrote the authors of the case cogitation , led by Naomi Mader from the Department of Medicine at the Red Cross Hospital in Bremen , Germany . Importantly , the man was previously healthy and had no pre - existing health issues , such as a compromised immune scheme , that could have made him vulnerable to the bacteria .
Photo: AP
At first , the man have flu - like symptom and travail external respiration . The pelt on his face and hands then break out with small rotary red patches and his brawniness aches got progressively worse . He resolve to seek medical attention three days after symptoms first emerged .
Under the care of aesculapian staff , the Isle of Man ’s condition quickly progressed to dangerous sepsis , a liveliness - threatening condition in which the body mounts a monumental chemical substance attack against foreign invaders . In this compositor’s case , that foreign invader was rule to be Capnocytophaga canimorsus . Despite “ extensive intensive care , ” the human beings ’s condition continued to deteriorate until he succumbed to multiple organ unsuccessful person , cash in one’s chips 16 days after discourse begin .
In lighting of this incident , the writer of the case story say pet owners “ with flu - like symptoms should urgently seek medical advice when their symptoms exceed those of a simple-minded viral infection , ” which in this case was the severe heavy ventilation ( dyspnea ) and the petite , circular tegument spots ( petechiae ) .
With these helpful admonition firmly in mind , it ’s important to manoeuvre out that this is an “ exceptionally rare ” and “ peculiar ” face , agree to William Schaffner , an infectious diseases specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville , Tennessee .
“ The Capnocytophaga canimorsus bacterium is well known to infectious disease specialists as being part of the normal bacterial population that subsist in the mouth of dogs , but not in cats or human being , ” Schaffner explicate during a phone conversation with Gizmodo . Dogs act a “ special ecological niche for this bacteria , ” but it “ does n’t cause unwellness in detent , and it normally does n’t stimulate illnesses in anyone else , either , ” he pronounce .
On affair , dog bites can be “ complicated by this bacteria , but even then it ’s rarefied , ” said Schaffner , who was n’t involved with the new case study . “ This case in unusual in the extreme . This serviceman ’s ‘ beneficial friend ’ was simply being well-disposed , doing what chiliad of other firedog do every day , slurping or licking their masters on their noses , mouthpiece , and lips — it happen all the time . ”
In this circumstance , however , and for reason that are still indecipherable , researcher assume that the dog-iron ’s biff transmitted the Capnocytophaga canimorsus bacterium to its owner . The incident is so odd , said Schaffner , that it deserved its own case subject in the aesculapian lit .
That being said , Schaffner articulate some people can not portion out this kind of intimacy with their hot dog , namely individuals who live in an immunocompromised land . This includes citizenry with HIV / AIDS , who have impair resistant system , or people who have been plow with immunosuppressant agents , such as person being treated for bad rheumatoid arthritis or genus Cancer patients recovering from chemotherapy .
There ’s nothing unseasonable with immunodeficient the great unwashed stimulate dogs , they “ just should n’t get that intimate with them , ” said Schaffner .
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