A grandfather from Perth, Australia is fighting for his life after he contracted a flesh-eating superbug which doctors say will require at least 20 operations and a potential one-year-long stay in the hospital to treat.
Family members say Paul Campbell, 56, was visiting his mother in Hervey Bay about three weeks ago when he suddenly fell ill.
"He was doing gardening and he said he felt like he had sunstroke," Campbell's daughter Belinda Howes said, according to the Daily Mail. "On Tuesday he was gardening - by Thursday he had had three operations."
The bug has left him with gaping wounds on his thigh and stomach where doctors removed infected tissue.
"It's called necrotising faciitis and it's a superbug, it's a flesh-eating bacteria," Howes said. "To me it's like a shark has taken a chunk out of him."
The flesh-eating superbug's official name is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), which is a bacterium responsible for various difficult-to-treat infections in humans, according to the Mayo Clinic. The bug is notable for being highly resistant to antibiotics such as the penicillins and cephalosporins. Due to the nature of the injuries and weakened immune systems that the bug inflicts, those with MRSA are at a greater risk of further infection.
Campbell now faces at least 20 surgeries so skin grafts can be done to help heal the damage the bug has already inflicted on his body. He also faces possible amputations, including at least one of his thumbs.
While Campbell is left fighting for his life, experts are worried that his family is also at risk. The Telethon Kids Institute director Johnathan Carapetis and Dr. Ronan Murray both note MSRA should be made a notifiable disease and that there is a "strong case" for giving preventative antibiotics to household contacts of those infected, according to The West Australian.
"Although it's rare, it has significant implications for the household contacts," Murray said. "It may be that antibiotics should be offered to people ... to reduce the risk."
About 25 percent of the 400 people with the bug in Australia die each year from the infection.
