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February 21, 2022 – 12:55 p.m Clock
A student from the USA actually just wanted to eat a portion of pasta for dinner – less than 24 hours later the 19-year-old ended up in the hospital with life-threatening symptoms. To save his life, doctors eventually had to amputate both of his legs and part of his fingers. The reason for the terrible course of the disease was evident: a missing dose of vaccination.
Eaten leftovers: Student throws up several times
One evening last year, the college student found rice, chicken and Chinese noodles in the fridge — leftovers from a portion his roommate had eaten the day before. The 19-year-old devoured it Dinnerbut only a little later he already began to feel significantly worse.
The student vomited several times, and a terrible headache kept him awake during the night. At first, however, the two friends were not too worried. The roommate also vomited after eating the pasta, but did not throw the food away afterwards. It would probably be temporary food poisoning, the two thought. Unfortunately, things were about to get much worse.
USA: Doctors initially do not find the reason for the serious illness
When the 19-year-old discovered a rash on his hands the next morning, his roommate drove him to the hospital. During the drive, the student’s eyesight deteriorated and his neck began to stiffen. At the hospital, doctors diagnosed shortness of breath and a fast heartbeat. The patient vomited again, the dark red rash spreading all over his body.
But as the student’s condition continued to deteriorate, doctors could not find the cause of his illness. Why had his roommate just vomited? Why was your patient’s life in danger? The 19-year-old had no known allergies and no serious drug problems.
“The most extraordinary features of this case were his bleeding disorders and the rapidity with which the disease worsened,” says Dr. Pavan K. Bendapudi, who treated the patient, quoted in the New England Journal of Medicine. “What was also striking was his young age and the absence of typical risk factors.”
Meningococcal infection: amputation of both legs and parts of all ten fingers
The 19-year-old’s condition deteriorated so rapidly that he had to be artificially ventilated and flown to a better-equipped hospital by helicopter. Only there did the doctors receive the results of the student’s blood test: A meningococcal infection.
Doctors managed to stabilize their patient’s condition, but by then the 19-year-old’s kidneys had failed and several parts of the student’s body were in danger of dying. In order to save his life, both of his legs were amputated from the knee down and parts of all ten fingers were amputated.
The 19-year-old only regained consciousness 26 days later. Although he had survived his terrible illness, his life would have changed forever.
Sepsis: Patient missed vaccine dose against meningococci
But what had led to the serious course of the disease in the student? How come his roommate got away with such mild symptoms? The doctors finally found the probable reason in the Vaccination records of the patient: The 19-year-old had been vaccinated against meningococci at school, but he had never received the recommended second dose four years later – unlike his roommate. That’s why they could bacteria afflict the young student’s body so dangerously.
Meningococci kill around ten percent of all patients. The 19-year-old suffered from the severe infection Sepsis. Septic diseases are the most common cause of death as a result of infection and the third most common cause of death in Germany. They claim almost as many lives a year as heart attacks and significantly more than breast cancer or colon cancer.
The New England Journal of Medicine published the case last March. Reports from a popular YouTube channel and the British media have attracted increasing attention in recent days. (jda)