Deadly flesh-eating disease almost causes Augusta County woman to lose leg

ROANOKE, Va.- – Several people across the country have contracted fecrotizing fasciitis. It's a flesh-eating disease that can be fatal. A 28-year-old woman in Augusta County almost lost her leg to the disease. 

 "It was like someone had taken a blow torch and was burning my legs,"  said Thompson. 

Salena Thompson was diagnosed with fecrotizing fasciitis, commonly known as a flesh-eating disease.

"It was then told to us, 'You have to have surgery immediately because if we don't do this right now, you could lose your leg and there's even a possibility that this could be fatal,'" Thompson said.

Dr. Thomas Kerkering, chief of infectious diseases at Carilion, said it spreads quickly in the body. It kills the tissue underneath the skin. He said one of the first major symptoms is pain.

"So if you have something that is pain out of proportion to what it seems to be and it began to swell and get tender and red and you get a fever, its time to see a doctor," said Kerkering. 

This disease can affect almost anyone and how people get it isn't always clear. But, according to Kerkering, it's more common in people with weakened immune systems and those who have poorly controlled diabetes. 

"Most common necrotizing faciitis occurs on the extremities like the arms or the legs and its not uncommon for someone to have an amputation," said Kerkering. 

But surgery is usually needed as a cure. 

"The treatment is not antibiotics at first. Immediately you have to go to surgery to take out the dead tissue," said Kerkering.

Thompson isn't sure how she got it but she needed five surgeries to remove all of the bacteria. It will take an additional eight to 10 weeks for Thompson to fully recover from her surgeries.

A man in Alabama is in intensive care from the disease two days after kayaking on the Tennessee River. 

Click the link below for more info from the CDC. 

https://www.cdc.gov/groupastrep/diseases-public/necrotizing-fasciitis.html