<unk>  wound infections have a mortality rate around 25%. In people in whom the infection worsens into sepsis, typically following ingestion, the mortality rate rises to 50%. The majority of these people die within the first 48 hours of infection. The optimal treatment is not known, but in one retrospective study of 93 people in Taiwan, use of a third-generation cephalosporin and a tetracycline (e.g., ceftriaxone and doxycycline, respectively) was associated with an improved outcome. Prospective clinical trials are needed to confirm this finding, but in vitro data support the supposition that this combination is synergistic against V.<unk> . Likewise, the American Medical Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend treating the person with a quinolone or intravenous doxycycline with ceftazidime. The first successful documented treatment of fulminant V.<unk>  sepsis was in 1995. Treatment was ceftazidime and intravenous (IV) ciprofloxacin and IV doxycycline, which proved successful. Prevention of secondary infections from respiratory failure and acute renal failure is crucial. Key to the diagnosis and treatment were the early recognition of bullae in an immunocompromised person with liver cirrhosis and oyster ingestion within the previous 48 hours, and the request by the physician for STAT Gram staining and blood cultures for V.<unk> .<unk>  often causes large, disfiguring ulcers that require extensive debridement or even amputation.
Vibrio vulnificus
Bacillus cereus
Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica
Vibrio cholerae
Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli
Yersinia rohdei
Listeria monocytogenes
Yersinia pseudotuberculosis