FLESH BUG KILLS ADDICT

A GLASGOW drug addict has died of the flesh-eating bug necrotising
fasciitis, bringing to three the number of addicts in the west of Scotland
who have suffered from the disease.

The news comes a day after health officials issued an alert that the rare
illness has been diagnosed among addicts.

Greater Glasgow Health Board said it had discovered the drug user had died
of the bug following a post mortem carried out on the behalf of the
Procurator Fiscal.

The health board had joined Argyll and Clyde health board in warning that
drug users should not inject after routine checks discovered the disease
among two addicts.

Officials said injecting drug users are more vulnerable to the potentially
fatal illness, because it commonly enters the body through broken skin.

In a statement yesterday, Dr Jim McMenamin, a consultant in public health
at Greater Glasgow Health Board, said: "This unfortunate death occurred
before we had any indication that an outbreak was identified. The clinical
condition of the two in-patients remains serious."

The original two cases surfaced during surveillance work by hospitals, GPs
and drug-user services which were set up in the wake of an outbreak of the
clostridium bacteria last year.

Dr McMenamin said: 'Drug users can develop necrotising fasciitis following
injection of contaminated material below the surface of their skin.

'I would wish to stress there is little risk to the general public from
this condition. Drug users should not inject and if their addiction is such
that they must take heroin, it should be smoked and not injected.

'If there is any pain or swelling around an injection site they should seek
urgent medical attention.'

More than 30 heroin users in the UK and Ireland died last year after being
infected by clostridium, with the largest number of cases concentrated in
Glasgow.

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 some cases require
surgery which can involve the removal of skin and limbs to halt the spread
of the bacteria.