Vibrio vulnificus infection: unwelcome guest in late summer
By Bahk Eun-jiThis year's summer monsoon was the longest since Korea commenced keeping weather records. Although the rainy streak has shown some signs of letting up, the sweltering heat looks set to continue until late summer.In addition to the COVID-19 pandemic, the health authorities have warned the public to be cautious about vibrio vulnificus infection, a gram-negative bacterium that can cause serious, potentially fatal infections.The infection is caused by an organism that inhabits coastal waters, and occurs mostly in August and September.According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC), 37 patients were reported to have been infected up until Aug.31 this year, more than doubled from the same period in 2019. Over the past five years, 228 patients with vibrio vulnificus infections have been reported nationwide. Among those, 77 (34 percent) were detected in the first two days of September.In particular, epidemiological investigations of five patients who died from vibrio vulnificus infection found that all of them were at high risk for the illness, with und
