Boy, 1, has a massive ‘rapidly growing’ lesion erupting on his bum and after suffering an anthrax infection
- A one-year-old boy was infected with cutaneous anthrax, causing a massive weeping lesion to erupt on his buttocks
- The lesion was initially painless, although the flesh around it died and after a few days began to deteriorate
- Doctors treated the boy with antibiotics for 10 days before his symptoms improved
- Anthrax cases are rare in developed countries and generally only occur in Africa or southern Asia
A one-year-old boy suffered a massive, exuding wound on his butt after an anthrax infection.
An Indian research team reports that the boy was brought in for treatment seven days after the appearance of the painless lesion on his left buttock. It erupted rapidly over the coming days, growing and eventually becoming necrotic as the tissue surrounding the lesion died.
The boy was diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax, the most common form of the infection. It’s the least deadly version of the condition, but still dangerous on its own. It is often transmitted to humans through interaction with a cow, goat, or sheep — although that child has had no known contact with an infected animal.
Anthrax is a highly dangerous but incredibly rare disease. The last confirmed case in the US was in 2011. Skin anthrax is still an occasional problem in developing countries that do not have the resources to start veterinary health programs.
A one-year-old boy had a massive lesion on his left buttock secondary to cutaneous anthrax infection
When that event took place was not disclosed by researchers at the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education & Research on the southeastern tip of a South Asian country.
The case report was published in JAMA Dermatology on Wednesday.
The young child’s lesion was painless, but seven days after the formation, he was taken to a pediatric emergency department.
Anthrax: The bacteria killer that shocked the nation in 2001
Anthrax is a bacterial infection caused by Bacillus anthracis
Cases are extremely rare in the US, with the last known infection occurring in 2011
Around 2,000 cases are recorded worldwide, usually in Africa or southern Asia
Many Americans will be aware of the disease after a 2001 bioterrorist attack on politicians and politicians killed five and wounded 17
There are three types of the disease:
Skin: When the bacterium enters a person’s body through a cut or lesion on the skin. Usually comes from interacting with an infected animal
Lungs: When a person inhales bacterial spores and becomes infected
Gastrointestinal: Occurs when a person eats meat infected with the bacteria
Doctors report that it started out small before “quickly enlarging” and covering his entire left buttock.
Five days later, the lesion became necrotic, meaning blood had difficulty flowing to the skin tissue, causing it to die and then disintegrate.
The researchers described the lesion as “a weeping, purple, edematous plaque with a central scab and surrounding edema,” effectively saying it was purple in color, swollen, and exuding pus.
They found no problem with the boy’s lymph nodes, which is common in many anthrax cases.
By this time he was also suffering from a fever, but it subsided after just two days.
Doctors were able to identify his infection as cutaneous anthrax, a version of the infection that breaks out through contact with the skin.
He was treated with the antibiotics ciprofloxacin and benzylpenicillin for 10 days before his symptoms improved.
Researchers did not disclose how long he stayed in the hospital or if he made a full recovery.
Anthrax is a relatively rare bacterial infection caused by Bacillus anthracis. Cases in the US are extremely rare.
Most Americans are familiar with the condition because of the 2001 Amerithrax incident, in which envelopes containing spores of the bacterium were sent to several media figures and politicians in the weeks following the September 11 attacks.
Five dead and 17 injured were linked to the bioterrorist attack.
Since then, there have been sporadic anthrax infections in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although cases do occasionally break out.
There are three different types of anthrax. The one-year-old in the study was diagnosed with cutaneous anthrax, which occurs when bacterial spores penetrate through a person’s skin and cause infection.
There’s also inhalation anthrax, where a person breathes in the bacteria, and gastrointestinal anthrax, which occurs when a person eats infected meat.