What does the bacteria necrotizing fasciitis do to the body?
That means necrotizing fasciitis is what the bacteria (often MRSA aka methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus) causes in the body. Interestingly, the disease is a result of the body’s reaction to the bacteria’s presence, not specifically something the bacteria does to the body. Now, “fascia” means outer surface, the “-itis” means inflammation, and “necrotizing” means it dies. So necrotizing fasciitis causes surface tissue death by inflammation. Here’s how it progresses: first the patient gets severe pain, then the tissue becomes swollen (as quickly as a few hours after the pain begins)–the faster the inflammation occurs, the closer to the surface the bacteria are–after that the skin darkens to violet and sometimes blisters, subsequently the subcutaneous layers of tissue start to die. Left untreated, the mortality rate is about 73%. Sources: http://en.wikipedia.
