ZOMBIE BACTERIA STRIKES AGAIN - Roper doctors treating man for flesh-eating bacteria

A man who was admitted to Roper Hospital last week suffering from a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection continued to receive treatment in downtown Charleston on Saturday night, one of his doctors confirmed.

Dr. Todd Shuman would not identify the patient or the origin or effect of his necrotizing fasciitis, which attacks soft tissue and muscle. But Shuman, director of Roper’s intensive care unit, emphasized that the condition is not contagious and that he is “hopeful” the patient will survive.

“He’s making appropriate progress at this point,” Shuman said.

Shuman, a surgical critical care physician, said necrotizing fasciitis occurs in only three of 100,000 people and that this week’s case was the first he’s seen in his 2½ years at Roper. However, it’s just the latest reported instance of the fast-moving and potentially lethal disease in South Carolina and Georgia recently.

Barry Ginn, a 59-year-old Hilton Head resident, was treated by the Medical University of South Carolina in February. Aimee Copeland of Snellville, Ga.; Lana Kuykendall in Greenville; and Bobby Vaughn of Cartersville, Ga., have also been infected, according to media reports.

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