A 53-year-old man in Hai Phong, Vietnam, was admitted to intensive care two days after eating pork blood. He developed septic shock, severe respiratory failure and multiple organ failure caused by Streptococcus suis infection.
Over the past two weeks, the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Vietnam has admitted four patients with Streptococcus suis infection. The most serious case was the 53-year-old man from Hai Phong, who regularly ate a dish made with raw pork blood.
About two days before admission, the man ate pork blood and then developed abdominal pain, repeated diarrhoea, fatigue and low blood pressure. Doctors at the first medical facility diagnosed septic shock and multiple organ failure. He received vasopressors before being transferred to the National Hospital for Tropical Diseases in Hanoi.
The patient arrived at the hospital's emergency department on the evening of October 15 in critical condition. He was confused, his body was covered with purple mottling, and he had extensive skin necrosis. Tests showed a very high inflammatory response, severe failure of several organs, acute kidney failure, liver injury and serious blood-clotting problems. Shock had severely reduced blood flow to his tissues.
Doctors intubated the patient, put him on a ventilator, gave him vasopressors and antibiotics, and started continuous dialysis. His condition was too severe and progressed rapidly, however, so his family asked to take him home on the afternoon of October 16.
Another patient had meningitis, fever, severe headache, confusion, impaired consciousness and hearing loss. These symptoms indicate a risk of long-term complications. The hospitalised patients had links to pigs or pork products through processing, slaughter or eating raw pork blood.
Nguyen Duc Minh, a resident doctor in the emergency department, said Streptococcus suis infection can become severe very quickly. In sepsis, the circulatory system collapses and organs receive too little blood and oxygen, which can lead to kidney failure, liver injury, respiratory failure and metabolic disorders.
Blood-clotting disorders can cause bleeding and clots in small blood vessels, damaging the skin and the tips of the limbs. Severe cases can lead to necrosis and sometimes require amputation.
The infection is caused by the bacterium Streptococcus suis, which can be present in pigs without obvious signs of illness. People can become infected through contact with the blood or secretions of an infected pig, especially through breaks in the skin, or by eating raw pork blood, raw or undercooked pork, and other products that have not been cooked thoroughly.
Sources: Thanh Niên
