The "Flesh-Eating Bacterium" and Antibiotic Resistance

According to reports from the Tokyo Shimbun and Japan's TBS news website, a rare "flesh-eating bacterium"—Streptococcus pyogenes, which can cause severe illness—is now spreading across Japan. As of June 2, Japan had reported 977 such cases this year.

After entering the body through a wound, this bacterium causes necrosis at the infection site and can lead to multiple organ failure; it can be fatal within 48 hours of infection, with a mortality rate of 10%–40%. If patients receive timely treatment after infection, the chance of successful rescue is greater, but many patients are careless and mistake it for an ordinary cold, missing the best window for rescue. This pathogen was first discovered in the United States, Europe, and Australia, and it can be transmitted through droplets.

These superbugs are becoming increasingly common worldwide, and a major reason is that bacteria keep evolving under the pressure of antibiotics. The newly evolved bacteria have developed resistance to antibiotics. Medical statistics show that 7.7 million people worldwide die of bacterial infections each year, of which 4.95 million cases are due to resistance that developed after long-term human use of antibiotics.

At present, the mortality caused by lethal bacteria can only be reduced through conventional interventions—such as vaccination against related diseases, and frail people getting adequate rest and avoiding overexertion—but even these conventional measures only reduce mortality by about 10%–20%.

Antibiotic resistance is raging across the globe, and the COVID-19 pandemic has worsened the trend. During the pandemic, antibiotic use rose sharply worldwide. As resistant bacteria evolve and COVID-19 weakens human immunity, some chronic-disease patients who are physically weak or immunocompromised (such as cancer patients and diabetics) become more susceptible to lethal resistant bacteria. Some patients show clinical symptoms that are very hard to resolve after infection; in others, the infecting bacteria are highly virulent, and the infection may prove fatal.

Frail patients must maintain regular routines, ensure adequate sleep, avoid crowded places, keep food and personal hygiene, and wash hands frequently. By boosting immunity and reducing exposure to infection sources, they can lower their risk of infection.