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Shuckingoysterscan be tricky , but no one expect to get sick from doing it . But that ’s what happened to a North Carolina man who develop a rare bacterial contagion after prying open one of the mollusc , according to a theme of the valet de chambre ’s cause .
The culprit wasMycobacterium szulgai , a bacteria found in soil and water . People typically do n’t become pallid when exposed to this being , but when they do , the bacteria usually infect the lungs and , in some example , can cause contagion in the tegument , bones and sheath hem in tendons .
The bacteria can get into a someone ’s torso through cuts in the skin , which is precisely what bump to the 66 - year - old man , who was shucking oysters with a cut of meat on his deal , said display case story principal author Dr. Amir Barzin , an adjunct professor of house practice of medicine at the University of North Carolina School of Medicine who treated the humanity . [ 27 Oddest Medical Cases ]
The bacteria were likely on the shellfish and probably inscribe the man ’s hide through his cutting off , Barzin told Live Science . Other animate being that are known to carry the bacterium include certain fish , other mollusc and turtles , grant to the case report , which was published online last December in the journalBMJ Case Reports .
But infections withM. szulgaiare rare , so when the humankind first went to the doctor because of soft intumescency in his correct index fingerbreadth , doctors did n’t mistrust the bacterium were the reason . Indeed , he could move the fingerbreadth without have any annoyance , and X - beam of his hired hand did n’t show anything strange .
An unlikely culprit
But when the swelling in the man ’s finger’s breadth did not go away , he was sent to an orthopaedic specialist because his medical history made him more vulnerable to infections . In particular , the world had received akidney transplantyears earlier and was taking medications to suppress hisimmune systemand foreclose rejection of the giver kidney , according to the case report .
The orthopedist suspect the human being had " stenosing tendonous synovitis , " or inflammation within the protective sheath surround the tendon in his index finger . ( Tendons connect muscle to os . ) He was give a shot of steroid medicinal drug to alleviate the swelling , but his symptoms repay a few months later .
At that tip , the man was sent for an MRI , which suggested he might have an infection in thetendons of his digit . He also needed a operative procedure known as a " flexor tenolysis , " which is done to release any domain along a sinew that are stuck , or " adhesed , " Barzin said . This was necessary because the valet was ineffectual to bend his finger’s breadth unremarkably , Barzin said .
During the procedure , surgeons call for a sample of the infected tissue paper and sent it to a research lab for psychoanalysis . That ’s when medico discovered that the movement of his infection was the bacteriumM. szulgai . It was only after the bacterium was identified that the humans recalled getting a cutting on his hand while shucking oyster , because his digit became conceited .
Barzin mark that it ’s unlikely that people withhealthy resistant systemswould get nauseous from these bacteria . But the immune - subdue medications that the man was accept gave the rare transmission a prospect to flourish , he added .
Had the man delayed seeking medical care , he might have develop hold out hurt to his finger , Barzin say , and there would have been a small chance for the infection to spread to other sinew .
The military man occupy antibiotic for about four months to empty the contagion . When Dr. last saw him , the range of movement in his right finger was almost back to normal , Barzin said .
earlier published onLive scientific discipline .
