A 31-year-old Texas man got a tattoo on his right leg, according to a case study in the journal BMJ, and went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico five days later.
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Just three days after swimming, he was admitted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with severe pain in both of his legs and feet. He quickly developed a purple patch on his right hip.
Parkland Health & Hospital System
The man's symptoms included a fever, chills and redness around his tattoo and elsewhere on his legs, including his left calf.
Parkland Health & Hospital System
The man tested positive for Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium commonly found in coastal ocean water.
Parkland Health & Hospital System
The tattoo two weeks after admission. The man was kept largely sedated for weeks.
Parkland Health & Hospital System
Fluid collected in the man's right leg weeks later. His condition worsened as time went on, and he died about two months after being admitted.
