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Baltic Sea beach in Schleswig-Holstein
Photo: Markus Scholz / dpa
An elderly person died in a clinic in Ostholstein after being infected with Vibrionen.
As the district administration announced on Thursday, the person had probably gone swimming despite an open wound and chronic previous illnesses.
Then she died in the clinic on July 27th.
According to the Ministry of Health in Kiel, this year it was the first case of infection reported in Schleswig-Holstein.
Like the Ostholstein district administration, the ministry reminded of precautionary measures: It can be assumed that the bacterium Vibrio vulnificus occurs at higher temperatures in the Baltic Sea.
Elderly people with an open wound, who have a weak immune system or who have had a weakened immune system due to previous illnesses, could be particularly at risk.
People with open or poorly healing wounds should not expose them to contact with warm sea water, it said.
At the end of July, the State Office for Health and Social Affairs of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania announced that an 80-year-old man from the state had demonstrably contracted an infection with the bacteria for the first time this year.
The bacteria occur naturally in the Baltic Sea and multiply from water temperatures of around 20 degrees Celsius.
In very rare cases, they can cause serious infections that can even be fatal.
Vibrions are widespread along the entire Baltic Sea coast and into the Baltic region and are a natural component of saline waters.
According to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI), young and healthy adults rarely develop a Vibro infection.
The bacteria are particularly dangerous for the elderly and immunocompromised people.
People with previous illnesses such as diabetes, liver disease or cancer would have an increased risk of an illness and a severe course of the disease.
Ear infections are known to exist in children.
Skin injuries as a portal of entry
Vibrions can penetrate the body through skin injuries.
The first symptoms of a Vibrionen infection usually appear after 12 to 72 hours.
An early symptom is local pain, which, given the visible wound, appears disproportionately strong, as the RKI writes.
Fever, chills and sepsis could also occur.
The infections are usually treated with antibiotics.
wit / dpa
