Old man stabbed in crab finger dies after 8 days, beware of infection with this disease in summer
Jul 11, 2025
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A man in his 70s living in Wenzhou, Zhejiang Province, was stabbed in the hand by a claw while grooming crabs at home, according to the Chinese media Feng Pai Shimbun.
The old man, who didn't think much of it, simply put on a bandage and then went about his daily life.
However, within 23 hours, his arm was swollen red, pus began to flow from the wound, and he even had a high fever.
The family rushed him to the hospital, and after the examination, the medical staff determined that the old man was infected with a bacterium called 'Vibrio vulnificus'. Vibrio vulnificus is a bacterium that lives in the marine environment and can cause serious infections in humans.
It is usually infected when contaminated seafood is raw or wounded skin comes into contact with contaminated seawater, and can cause vibrio sepsis, with a mortality rate of 50 to 90%.
Vibrio sepsis is a disease in which skin lesions occur within 24 hours after symptoms such as acute fever, chills, decreased blood pressure, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea are accompanied through the incubation period.
In particular, special attention is needed because the fatality rate is high in high-risk groups (patients with liver disease, alcoholics, immunocompromised patients, etc.).
The elderly deteriorated rapidly within an hour of admission, the skin turned black and pus began to flow.
Eventually, he fell into septic shock, and emergency surgery, repeated wound cleaning, and left arm amputation were performed, to no avail.
On the ninth day of the crab stabbing, he finally died.
In order to prevent vibrio sepsis, medical staff should wear gloves when cleaning seafood and immediately disinfect it with alcohol or iodine if it hurts"If red swelling, pus, and heat appear around the wound, you should visit the hospital without delay" he advised.
This incident is a warning case that shows that a single minor wound can lead to fatal consequences, and special attention is required when cooking and eating seafood.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
