LETTER
Coelenterate Sting
Steven L. Oscherwitz
15 December 1994 | Volume 121 Issue 12 | Pages 985-986
TO THE EDITOR:
Could there be other causes for the clinical problems noted in the patient in the report by Garcia and colleagues [1]? Although they report no blood culture results, it would seem that infection with Vibrio or other marine organisms might be possible. The ulcerations pictured in Garcia and colleagues' Figure 1 certainly appear similar to those I have seen in patients with V. vulnificus sepsis. Addition of dexamethasone to a regimen of antibiotics that does not cover Vibrio organisms raises the question of multiorgan failure as a result of disseminated bacterial infection from sea water. Previous dives in a similar environment with coelenterate exposure could have resulted in the patient's IgG titers.
1. Garcia PJ, Schein RM, Burnett JW. Fulminant hepatic failure from sea anemone sting. Ann Intern Med. 1994; 120:665-6.
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