Tips to avoid contracting vibrio, a flesh eating bacteria

OCEAN CITY, Md. – A young boy recently contracted a flesh eating bacteria called vibrio after swimming in the bay in Ocean City.

Kathy Phillips, the Assateague Coastal Trust Assateague Coastkeeper said, “Vibrio can be very reactive and can take hold, I mean 24 hours can sometimes mean whether you save a limb or not or even save your life.”

Vibrio is a flesh eating bacteria that’s often found in certain shellfish and brackish waters.

Phillips said, “It thrives in warm water or salty water especially like our coastal bays in brackish water.”

Just recently, a young boy contracted the bacteria after swimming in the bay near the Route 50 bridge in Ocean City.

Phillips said, “Under certain conditions, it finds a host that it can thrive in.”

Swimmers can catch the bacteria from an open wound on their skin.

“That may be what happened with the young boy right behind me here on the western side of the bay who contracted vibrio infection,” Phillips said.

So the best thing you can do if you have a cut is to avoid getting in the water, or cover that cut up

Phillips said, “For instance, your child might have a mosquito bite that he’s been scratching and picking at that should be covered with a water proof bandage before going in the water.”

If you cut yourself while out on the water, you need to sanitize it as soon as possible.

“You want to make sure that you clean it well, that you put some anti-bacterial lotion on it and you cover it,” Phillips said.

Fortunately, the boy who contracted the deadly bacteria is on the road to recovery, and when we asked swimmers if this will make them think twice about going in the bay, the overall answer was no.

Adam Smart, a beach goer said, “As long as there are no infections with the dogs and stuff like that, yeah I’d keep coming back.”

Braydon Bell, a swimmer said, “I’m not really scared of going in the water because of that.”

Jennifer Boyer, a beach goer said, “You can get sick from anything so.”

There are a couple of things you can do to help prevent vibrio from forming in our coastal bays: clean up after your pets and also, don’t litter.

If you start to feel a tingling, hot feeling on a wound after swimming, keep an eye on it and call your doctor if need be.

If you want to check the quality of the water before getting in, you can download the Swim Guide app on your phone, it’s free!