I just received an email from a friend from Virginia who fishes 7 days a week.
He told me of a friend of his who scratched his hand on his reel while fishing and then went on to clean his fish.
Well, when he got up the next morning his hand was swollen.
He went to his Dr. and they rushed him to the hospital.
No for the bad news! They have amputated his hand and part of his arm and they dont give him much chance of surviving on top of it! Blood Poisoning!!!!!!!!

I guess we all take for granted the scrapes and cuts we get while fishing!!

From now on I will have band aids and some form of antibacterial lotion with me when I go fishing!!!


Russ

Ouch! That's like that guy last year in Marion: http://www.upi.com/view.cfm?StoryID=20020809-121714-8896r

Rare flesh-eating bacteria kills fisherman
Published 8/9/2002 1:03 PM
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BOSTON, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A Massachusetts retiree has died from a rare form of flesh-eating bacteria he apparently contracted while fishing, a report said Friday.

It started with a sore little finger.

Albert Holt Jr., 69, of Marion, Mass., an avid fisherman, was hooked in both hands last month while taking a bluefish off a line.

His son was able to cut one of the hooks out, but the other had to be removed at a hospital.

Two weeks later, on July 15, he came home from another fishing trip in his 24-foot homemade skiff complaining of soreness in his pinkie finger.

According to Friday's New Bedford Standard Times, his wife, Linda, at first did not believe anything was seriously wrong, but as the pain intensified, she took him to Tobey Hospital in Wareham.

A doctor there initially believed the swelling in the finger was just gout, prescribed an anti-inflammatory drug, and sent him home.

A few hours later that night, however, the whole hand had swelled up and turned black, and Holt went back to the hospital. The doctor this time said he had never seen anything like it, and Holt was rushed to the New England Medical Center in Boston.

Doctors there diagnosed Holt's illness as photobacterium damsela, a rare but virulent marine pathogen that advances much quicker than other types of flesh-eating bacteria.

While more common forms of bacteria that eats the soft tissue under the skin -- known as necrotizing fasciitis -- afflict some 1,500 people per year, the New England Journal of Medicine reported in 2000 there were just 17 known cases of the faster-moving bacteria that killed Holt.

Racing against time to stay ahead of the rapidly spreading bacteria, doctors performed surgery four times on Holt over the next 24 hours, first removing his hand, then his arm, then portions of his back and side.

As his vital organs began shutting down in the following days, Holt was put on life support, but that was shut off on July 30, and Holt died 38 hours later.

"He loved fishing, and it was just a freak thing" that he became infected, Linda Holt said.

"It could have been on a fish," she said. "It's a bacteria that lives in the water."

Because Marion is a fishing community, Linda Holt cautioned others who come home from fishing feeling an acute pain or soreness, particularly in an extremity, to take it seriously and immediately see a doctor.

"We wouldn't want what happened to Al to happen to someone else," she said. "It was horrendous."

So, should we all wear gloves when we fish now?
What *reasonable* precautions need to be taken?

fa shore..last summer I watched a dog fish spin his tail around an sink his spike into my wrist. talk about blood flow, took a week to get it all off the boat, 10 miles out wasn't about to come home. went back jigging, then waited to see if my arm was going to turn green, I'm still here, lucky I guess.

I know a guy who got finned icefishing and his arm blew ip too. He spent about 5 days on antibiotics in the hospital

i was finned by a bluefish one summer in my wrist and didn't think to much about it not knowing of the dangers involved. About 6 days had passed when my neighbor (a fish cutter at the warf)
noticed a vein in my arm very discolored and the poison was then above my bicep only one or two days progression away from my heart. I would have probably died had he not seen that and i went imediately to the hospital and got on antibiotics.Now i am very aware of any contact with hook's ,fins ,puncturing my skin and treat it like a snake bite.Better to be safe than sorry and disinfectant is cheap!:eek: So don't take ANY chances!!

A tetanus shoot or tetanus booster shot (if you've had the original tetanus shot) will prevent getting Tetanus, or as it's more commonly called, Lockjaw.

This is often a fatal infection; for about $15.00 or $20.00you can get the booster.

However, it won't prevent infection from other kinds of bacteria.

I carry a bottle of iodine in my tackle box. It stings like hell but it prevents a lot of infections. Washing your hand in saltwater after a cut or puncture wound is not good but sometimes the only solution. Then apply iodine and let it dry before you continue fishing. Iodine are less efficient on puncture wounds than on scrapes and cuts.

Nils

Guys, you're starting to worry me. I was cleaning/filleting my first keeper of the season and in the process cut the top of my finger right below the nail, on its fin. Very small cut but it had a decent amount of blood. I washed it immediately with the hose I had handy. Anyway I woke up this morning and it was slightly swollen and sore. Nothing terrible but I can notice it. Should I treat it somehow? Wait it out? Doesn't seem like a big deal but after reading this thread it makes me wonder.....:confused:

Jaywalker, if it was only a little red/swollen, its probably ok. All cuts/scrapes swell as the white blood cells rush to the area to clean it out. I'd watch it, if its worse in a few days RUN to the hospital.

I wear gloves a lot, not only does it keep me from getting slimed or covered in bacteria, but it makes cleaning the fish smell off my hands a lot easier after reeling in a barrel-sized striper. ......

Hey, its dark out, don't mess with a fantasy.

Thanks Sf. Yeah gloves are probably a good idea, I just never thought of it, didn't know there could be consequences like that. I figured it was no big deal but it seemed a strange conicidence to see that thread this morning. Anyway a few bumps and bruises are a small price to pay for a good day on the water! Thanks for the reassurance! ;)

Yeah... This is some scarry stuff! Makes ya' stop and think! :confused:

I can tell you that after my fall on the rocks over a week ago, I am going to be bringing some first aid stuff along. I guess a little iodine is probably better to clean a cut with than sticking your hand in the bucket of ice water your eels are in! :smash:

Now... if I could just get well enough to not need this sling, I could stock up my surf bag! ;)

Be careful out there!

Rob

My suggestion to this all would be to carry some Anti-bacterial soap, bacitracin, and band aids. Alcohol wipes wouldnt be a bad idea either!

I think this incident is far from the norm but better safe than sorry!!!




Russ

Iwas out last night and cut my finger and thought about that guy from last year..... I've had so many cuts over the years..... not to mention all the pokes I would get when I used to lobster. If you get a cut ... let it bleed , the same and more so for punctures. By getting it to bleed you can flush some of the crap out naturely. This is very important with punctures as crap gets pushed in and held there. then use some anti-bacterial ointment. ;)

oh my god! whoa, im scared now. man, i got an infection last summer while changing baits for fluke and got a hook on my left first finger. and i left it open a couple days and fished again at rockport with herrings for stripers and the herrings' blood entered into my system and created a green mold on it and it was swollen. what was it? i didnt go to a hospital, but my old man treated it with a sewing needle, cotton, alcohol swap, antibotic iodine, and ontiment. he shaved my infection out with a sewing needle. and put it on a band aid. from that day, i always remember to wear a pair of glove. hey, remma when i said that i went on a fishing trip with a guy from R-T on poppy flats? a blues scratched my ulana area with its mouth. i didnt feel swollen or anything. and now, im worried. and also im concerned about the striper superstition, u know abt kissing a striped bass on your first catch for a good luck? will it affect me when a slime or something come contact with me?

MMMMppphhMMphmMp.
"What?, I asked how you are catching all those big fish."
MmmMmppppHmmmPhh.
"What?"
"MMmphm, store your worms in your mouth....mmmMPPm...keeps them warm...mmmphpPPPHMM."
B.L.
PS: Fear not Monkey Disease....Fish On.

Originally posted by Notaro
u know abt kissing a striped bass on your first catch for a good luck? will it affect me when a slime or something come contact with me?

:D not to worry about a litlle slime........ the worry is getting poked with a lot of bacteria growing on the fish..... untreated it grows ;)

Originally posted by Notaro
hey, remma when i said that i went on a fishing trip with a guy from R-T on poppy flats? a blues scratched my ulana area with its mouth. i didnt feel swollen or anything.

:eek5: First off, what the hell is an ulana, and Whatcha doin puttin that near a bluefishs' mouth for? :shocked:

comes in swaps like alcohol..real handy..easy to carry...spill anywhere=trouble..careful opening up..tends to spit on you..foget getting out of anything..