This may be the grossest eye pic ever-but the cause is what’s truly horrifying
Ars Technica • • health
Key Points:
- A 63-year-old man in New England developed a severe, multi-organ infection caused by hypervirulent Klebsiella pneumoniae (hvKP), a rising global bacterial threat known for spreading aggressively in healthy individuals.
- The infection began after the man experienced gastrointestinal symptoms, then progressed to lung nodules, a large liver abscess, brain lesions, and severe eye infection (panophthalmitis), ultimately leading to loss of vision and removal of his right eye.
- Diagnosis was challenging due to the difficulty in differentiating hvKP from classical K. pneumoniae, with tests like the string test used to identify the hypervirulent strain based on bacterial "stickiness."
- The patient underwent a nine-month antibiotic treatment regimen, which successfully
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