A potentially deadly illness striking victims in Britain and the United States is caused by bacteria triggering a violent immune system response, a University of Tennessee scientist said Tuesday.
British tabloids call the disease ''meat-eating'' because it targets flesh and muscle tissue.
Eleven victims in Britain have died since Jan. 1. But Dr. Malak Kotb, director of surgical immunology at the UT-Memphis Medical Center and the Veterans Administration Hospital, said British newspapers overreacted to the illness which she said does not threaten the general population. Each person's immune system is different. The same bacteria can go into one person and cause nothing, go into another person and cause this devastating disease, and only mild disease in a third person. People who experience severe pain and fever following a wound infection or a sore throat should see a doctor because once the cascade starts, it is very difficult to control,'' she said.