Kingwood woman confirmed as Harvey death from flesh-eating bacteria Woman infected in flood-ravaged home 
 
 
 
 >>Remembering those we lost during Hurricane Harvey. less Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of “flood-necrotizing fasciitis” complicating blunt trauma of an upper extremity via an accident, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She is the county’s 36th official Harvey-related death. The Kingwood woman fell in her flooded home and died from flesh-eating bacteria acquired through the injury. Her death was added on Sept. 25 to Harris County’s official list of storm fatalities. Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of “flood-necrotizing fasciitis” complicating blunt trauma of an upper extremity via an accident, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences. She is the ... more Photo: Courtesy Of Family Photo: Courtesy Of Family Image 1 of / 60 Caption Close Kingwood woman confirmed as Harvey death from flesh-eating bacteria 1 / 60 Back to Gallery 
 
 A Kingwood woman who became ill after falling into Harvey floodwaters at home died from flesh-eating bacteria, the Harris County medical examiner's office ruled. 
 
 Nancy Reed, 77, died on Sept. 15 of flood-related necrotizing fasciitis, an infection that spreads quickly through muscle tissue and can cause organ failure. 
 
 Reed was the second known case of the bacteria related to the floodwaters from Hurricane Harvey. Rescuer J.R. Atkins, a former firefighter and medic, was contaminated through an insect bite on his arm while helping Missouri City neighbors. He survived. 
 
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 "It's tragic," said Dr. David Persse, director of the city's emergency medical services. "This is one of the things we'd been worrying about once the flooding began, that something like this might occur. My heart goes out to the family." 
 
 According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, necrotizing fasciitis is a serious bacterial skin infection that kills the body's soft tissue, spreads quickly and can be fatal in a short time. Prompt diagnosis and treatment with antibiotics can prevent death. 
 
 The infection is not considered a reportable disease in Texas, meaning doctors or laboratories who diagnose it are not required to alert health authorities. But they are required to report many of the organisms that cause the disease — streptococcus, E. coli, vibrio vulnificus and certain types of drug-resistant staphylococcus. 
 
 Strep is the most common cause of flesh-eating bacteria. Vibrio is the most common in salt water. 
 
 Since 2010, the CDC has documented 700 to 1,100 cases of necrotizing fasciitis annually caused by group A strep, but details were not immediately available how many deaths were caused by the infection. 
 
 Reed fell at her son's home in Kingwood, breaking and cutting her arm, according to a family friend. After the injury became infected, she was treated at Memorial Hermann Hospital - The Woodlands and then taken to Memorial Hermann Hospital - Texas Medical Center, where she died. 
 
 The Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences concluded that the infection complicated the blunt trauma to her arm. Reed is the county's 36th death to be officially linked to Hurricane Harvey and its aftermath, which contributed to more than 75 deaths statewide. 
 
 Reed was remembered during a memorial service on Friday at First Presbyterian Church of Kingwood. 
 
 According to her obituary, Reed was a community volunteer and chief executive of the LivingTributes.com website of online memorials to the deceased. She was widowed with one son, John Reed. 
 
 Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on Jan. 4, 1940, she was a former elementary school teacher and worked at The Reed Agency with her husband, Gary, until he died in 1999. She was also president of the Reed Foundation. 
 
 "Nancy was a kind, caring member of the Kingwood community and gave of her time and many talents generously," her obituary said. 
 
 She was active in her church, serving on multiple committees, and worked with the Village Learning and Achievement Center and the Upbring Krause Children's Center. 
 
 Her relatives could not be reached for comment. ||||| Nancy Reed died Sept. 15 of necrotizing fasciitis, according to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Science, which reported that the dangerous skin condition resulted in complications related to "blunt trauma of an upper extremity." 
 
 The death is the county's 36th Harvey-related fatality. 
 
 Reed was a widowed community volunteer who lived in Kingwood, a northern suburb of Houston, according to the Houston Chronicle. 
 
 At least one rescuer was also infected with the condition during the hurricane and its aftermath, the newspaper said. 
 
 Former firefighter and medic J.R. Atkins survived his bout with the bacteria, caused by an insect bite while he was assisting flood-ravaged victims in suburban Missouri City. ||||| (CNN) Hurricane Harvey has claimed another victim, about two months after making landfall in Texas . 
 
 A 31-year-old man died last week after being diagnosed with a rare flesh-eating bacterial infection known as necrotizing fasciitis, the Galveston County Health District announced Monday. 
 
 The man has been identified as Josue Zurita, according to the Houston Chronicle , and he was helping repair several homes damaged by flooding from Harvey. 
 
 Zurita went to the hospital on October 10 with a seriously infected wound on his upper left arm and was diagnosed with necrotizing fasciitis, according to the Galveston County Health District. 
 
 In an obituary on the Galveston-based Carnes Brothers Funeral Home's website , Zurita was called a "loving father and hard-working carpenter" who moved to the United States from Mexico to help his family and "remained to help with the rebuilding after hurricane Harvey." 
 
 Zurita's death follows that of Nancy Reed, a 77-year-old Houston-area woman who died in September from necrotizing fasciitis related to Harvey floodwaters. 
 
 J.R. Atkins, a former first responder, also contracted a flesh-eating bacterial infection but survived, according to CNN affiliate KTRK . He had been kayaking through floodwaters to check on neighbors affected by the hurricane, according to a Facebook post in September 
 
 "We're surprised we saw three of them in the region, but given the exposure to all the construction and potential injuries that people would have ... it shouldn't be surprising. It's well within what we would expect given those numbers," said Dr. Philip Keiser, the Galveston County local health authority. 
 
 Yet such infections as necrotizing fasciitis are very rare, Keiser said. Since 2010, about 700 to 1,100 cases occur each year in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
 
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 Several types of bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis, according to the National Institutes of Health . Such an infection can spread quickly and kills the body's soft tissue, especially if it infects a wound that is not properly cared for, Keiser said. The infection also can become lethal within a short amount of time. 
 
 "What happens is, you get some kind of break in the skin, and in that area -- between the skin and the muscle -- it's a fairly open space where the bacteria can grow," Keiser said. 
 
 "I have seen these things spread over hours. Even in one case, as I was examining a patient, I could see the red spread in the minutes I was examining him, and that's the real danger to it," Keiser said. "As it spreads, it's going up the space between the muscle and skin, and as it does that, it kills all the nerves and the blood vessels can clot." 
 
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 To prevent such deadly infections, proper wound care is key, according to Keiser and the CDC. 
 
 Keep open wounds covered with clean, dry bandages until they heal, especially if you are working in floodwaters, and avoid contact with natural bodies of water if you have an open wound. Don't delay treating minor, non-infected wounds, and wash hands often with soap and water. 
 
 Also, if you notice any redness or swelling of a wound, or if you have a fever, seek medical attention.
– A Texas woman fell into Hurricane Harvey floodwaters at her son's home and ended up dead from flesh-eating bacteria. Nancy Reed, 77, is the second known person to contract flood-related necrotizing fasciitis after Harvey, the Houston Chronicle reports. She died Sept. 15, but the Harris County medical examiner's office just ruled on her cause of death. The quick-spreading infection, which can cause organ failure and death in a short amount of time, also hit rescuer JR Atkins while he was helping his neighbors; he contracted it through an insect bite but survived. "This is one of the things we'd been worrying about once the flooding began, that something like this might occur," says the director of the city's emergency medical services. "It's tragic." When Reed fell, she broke and cut her arm, and the injury got infected, a family friend says. The medical examiner's office concluded the infection caused complications related to "blunt trauma of an upper extremity," the Dallas News reports. A doctor warns KTRK that even after floodwaters recede, the dangerous bacteria can remain on anything floodwaters touched.