Knowing how to treat them might save their life. The pollution of fresh and salt water environments appears to have resulted in increased virulence and frequency of infections, skin cancers and other illnesses. Vibrio vulnificus is a virulent marine Vibrio isolated frequently from warm coastal water during the summer. A child may be predisposed by handling crabs or fish, especially if a wound is present. The child can present with fever, chills and sepsis.
Treatment requires early intervention with intravenous antibiotics.
Prototheca wikerhamii is a dangerous but rare infection caused by alga in wounds that are contaminated by dirty water or soil. These infections can involve the skin, subcutaneous tissues, olecranon bursa or even deep organs. In a child with normal immunity, the olecranon bursa is usually infected while children who are immunosuppressed may have skin lesions. Treatment requires bursectomy. Fish handler's disease is caused by Erysipelothrix rhusiopahiae, a gram-positive, facultatively aerobic bacillus.