Necrotizing Fasciitis: The Flesh Eating Disease

Necrotizing Fasciitis: The Flesh Eating Disease

Necrotizing Fasciitis is also known as the flesh-eating disease. It

is a rare disease that causes the deterioration of the flesh, causing

extensive destruction of the tissues. It can kill. The disease is very

uncommon and only infects about one in a million people each year in Canada.

There is some concern and suggestions that cases of this disease may be on

the increase. Most of these serious infections occur between the months of

October and March. The good news is that fifty to seventy percent of

people who get this disease recover.

When people get this illness, the symptoms are fever, severe pain, and

a red, painful swelling which spreads rapidly. The disease spreads very

rapidly through flesh at a rate of one inch or almost three centimetres per

hour. Death can occur in just 18 hours.

The layers of tissue that surround the muscle are called fascia.

When the disease spreads along the layers of tissue that surround muscle,

it is called Necrotizing Fasciitis. Once the disease spreads into...