A 3-year-old girl from San José, California (USA) was bitten on her left middle finger by an iguana trying to get her piece of cake while she was on vacation in Costa Rica with her parents. in March 2022. The animal transmitted to him a rare bacterial infection, which makes the child a unique case which will be presented at a scientific congress to be held in Copenhagen (Denmark) from April 15 to 18, reports CNN. The girl is still under treatment and is gradually recovering from the bite and its consequences.
An infected wound
Initially, the young Californian was however quickly taken care of at the hospital. Her wound had been disinfected and she had received antibiotic treatment for a possible salmonella infection. The wound then closed within two weeks, but still became infected.
Five months later, her parents had indeed noticed a lump on their daughter’s left hand. Without making the connection with the bite, their doctor had simply diagnosed a “harmless cyst”. But the ball continued to grow until it reached two centimeters. It was then necessary to operate the little girl.
A unique case
After several laboratory tests, it finally appeared that the young tourist had been infected with the bacteria Mycobacterium marinus, which is present in fresh and salt water and rarely affects humans. Here it caused tissue necrosis and significant local inflammation, which generated the ball. The girl, now 4, was able to get proper treatment and is “still recovering from the November operation”, her parents recently said. The wound would not have closed yet.
In any case, this infection makes the young American a potentially unique case in the world. Generally, the rare humans infected have been infected following exposing their wound in contaminated water. This infection most often generates a rash or a nodule that can turn into an ulcer.
