A woman, a 74-year-old senior Sri Lankan citizen has faced an amputation of her hand as she contracted with rare infection that deteriorates the flesh in the body.
According to the Daily Mail online, she has been diagnosed with a rare disease called Buruli ulcer, a result of a bacterial infection.
Namely, Mrs Carmel Rodrigo has left for Melbourne, Australia to visit her daughter now receiving treatments in a Melbourne hospital for nearly 3 weeks due to an infection.
According to her daughter Gayathri Perera, her mother has been in Melbourne since last January and had enjoyed a family time sightseeing. However, a situation developed with severe pain and she was screaming as she was unbearable the pain. Then her hand was swollen and went slightly blue.
After she was rushed to the hospital began a numbness in her hand, Mrs Rodrigo’s daughter has said.
Doctors suspect that she is infected with rare flesh-eating Bacteria a disease called Buruli Ulcers. However, commenting to Yahoo News daughter Gayathri has said that her mother’s infection cannot be recognized as which kind of.
‘The spread was really fast. I was told to pray because she only had a 10 percent chance of survival,’ she said. Even she remains sedated in the ward and the doctor’s opinion is that her pain would be ‘unbearable’ if she was conscious.
Health experts say that Buruli ulcer is an infection that causes damage to the skin and soft tissue.
Mosquitoes act as vectors while other animals also transmit the disease.
While it’s unclear as to how Mrs Rodrigo caught the infection, all Ms Perera can do is wait for her mother to get better.
While her mother was in a critical situation in the hospital Gayathri and her family experienced financial hardships to meet her mother’s medical bills. They have set up a GoFundMe page to help with their financial stress.
‘Please help us to make Carmel regain her strength to fight this horrible disease and to get back to her usual joyful and smiley self,’ Ms Perera said on the GoFundMe page.
According to the WHO Buruli ulcer is an infection ’caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium (M.) ulcerans’. It is more commonly known as the ‘flesh-eating disease’,
Health officials suspect that mosquitoes as the main species responsible for the infection’s transmission.
‘There is increasing evidence that ‘Buruli ulcer is spreading geographically across Victoria and is no longer restricted to specific locations; however, the overall risk of transmission is considered low.
‘The number of cases in Victoria varies widely from year to year, but numbers have been increasing to between 200-340 cases per year since 2017.’
Buruli ulcer is mainly spread through mosquitoes but has been detected in other animals across several states
Buruli ulcer is mainly spread through mosquitoes but has been detected in other animals across several states. However, the infection doesn’t spread from person to person.
