Saturday, January 24, 2009

Strange death of a Brazilian beauty

Urinary-tract infection leads to septic shock, necrosis, amputation, organ failure and death:
Brazilian model Mariana Bridi da Costa, whose hands and feet were amputated in a bid to save her from a deadly and little-known illness, died early Saturday, two friends of the model told CNN. . . .
Da Costa, 20, had fought a pernicious disease that has ravaged her body and forced doctors to perform the amputations and extract part of her stomach as well as both kidneys. . . .
Da Costa suffered from necrosis, or the fast deadening of tissue, caused by septicemia. Septicemia, triggered by a bacterial infection, causes insufficient blood flow that can lead to organ failure.
(Via Ann Althouse.)

2 comments:

  1. CNN says "it is the tenth leading cause of deaths in the United States" Good Lord! That's scary. What a terrible way to go.

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  2. Was this related to "toxic shock syndrome", that happened in the US 15-20 years ago? That had to do with "super absorbent" tampons that were *too* absorbent - creating a dangerous situation, where multiple strains of bacteria flourished and attacked in a horribly short time. Since then the problem products were modified, and I haven't heard of any related problems since.

    But I wonder if the Brazilians are re-learning that lesson we paid in lives to learn. In a way, I hope it is the same thing - meaning the solution is readily available and many fewer lives need be at risk.

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