After a visit to the Baltic Sea, a woman became infected with Vibrios bacteria.
She died of the infection in late July.
The Kiel Ministry of Health urges caution.
Kiel / Eutin - Vibrion bacteria, also known as Vibrio vulnificus among experts, occur in the Baltic Sea.
The bacteria tend to multiply in the water, especially at higher temperatures of twenty degrees or more.
In very rare cases, they can cause serious infections, as the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (Lagus) in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania announced to the
dpa
.
An elderly person caught such a rare infection while bathing in the Baltic Sea at the end of July.
On July 27, she died in a clinic in Ostholstein, as the
dpa
district administration
reported on Thursday (August 12).
According to reports from the
Lübecker Nachrichten
, the victim is said to be an elderly woman.
Bathing on the Baltic Sea: risk of Vibration infection
According to the Ostholstein district administration, the woman probably went into the water despite an open wound and chronic previous illnesses.
Older people with open wounds and immune deficiencies are particularly at risk of infection with the bacteria, as the Schleswig-Holstein Ministry of Health informs.
According to the ministry, people with pre-existing conditions or chronic illnesses such as diabetes should also be careful when bathing in the Baltic Sea.
In relation to the number of bathing guests on the Baltic Sea, an infection would occur very rarely, according to the ministry, but it would not give the all-clear.
"If bathers belong to these risk groups and have skin injuries, they should avoid contact with sea or brackish water," recommends Dr.
Heiko Will, director of the LAGuS, in a message from the Mecklenburg health department.
As the Ministry of Health Schleswig-Holstein
informed
the
dpa
, this infection is the first case in the state. In Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania there was already a case in July in which an 80-year-old man was infected with vibrions.
