Prateek
A 63-year-old unidentified man died after his dog licked him. He caught a fatal infection from his dog's saliva which killed him. The case was reported in a medical journal by doctors from the Rote Kreuz Krankenhaus in Bremen, Germany.
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According to the doctors, the man was totally healthy before he caught this infection. A bacteria called 'Capnocytophaga canimorsus' can be spread through bites but in this case, got transmitted through just a lick.
The man first developed flu-like symptoms for the first 3 days like a fever and difficulty breathing and later by the time the treatment started he already had severe sepsis. The symptoms started with facial rashes and nerve pain and then moved forward to bruises in legs.
His organs started failing and blood started clotting in the blood vessels. The skin started rotting which lead to cardiac arrest. He was then put on life support as his heart stopped beating.
The man suffered for more than 2 weeks suffering from all this pain.
This infection is not usually triggered by licking but in this case, it did. Doctors were surprised as even if the bacterias got transmitted through just licking then only a small number of bacterias should have been transmitted which could have made it treatable.
Dr. Naomi Mader wrote in the journal:
'Pet owners with flu-like symptoms should urgently seek medical advice when their symptoms exceed those of a simple viral infection, which in this case were [breathing problems and rash].'
'Physicians confronted with such patients should ask about contact with dogs and cats.'
One should not let their dog lick them if they have any open wound because it increases the infection chances by multiple times. This case was an exception but could happen to anyone with a weak immune system so its better to take necessary precautions after all 'Prevention is better than cure'.
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