NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - Louisiana state health officials confirm that three more people have been infected with vibrio vulnificus, a flesh-eating bacteria, in the past month.
The Louisiana Department of Health says 20 people have been hospitalized with such infections this year, and four of them died.
Doctors say vibrio can cause serious infections, especially in people who have open cuts or weakened immune systems. They say people can also get infected by eating raw or undercooked seafood, especially oysters, from exposed waters.
The LDH confirms some residents have been exposed in Louisiana, while others were exposed in other states along the Gulf Coast.
"If we would see multiple exposures on a specific waterway, we would report that," said Theresa Sokol with the Department of Health. "When we interview patients, they can't tell us even specifically which waterway they were in or what part of a coastal water they were in if they were in a boat when wounded. That's why it's very challenging to try to explain how people can protect themselves by naming a specific waterway."
Peggy Parker is a vibrio survivor. Ten years ago, she was infected after walking in the Gulf near her Mississippi home.
"Ten years ago at this time, I was in a coma. I had the breathing tube down me and the whole nine yards," Parker said.
Before she was hospitalized, Parker ran extreme fever and developed blisters on her leg. She counts her blessings that she survived and prays for those ones who don't.
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Parker said she was disturbed by the recent death of Basil Kennedy from Bay St. Louis. His family said he died from vibrio after scraping his leg on a boat trailer.
"I can't get over him. It just shocked me. My heart broke for him," Parker said.
According to the LDH, vibrio is most common between May and October, when water temperatures are higher.
Dr. Katherine Baumgarten, the medical director of infection prevention for Ochsner Health, said anyone can get vibrio, even those previously infected.
"If you're in that risk group of cirrhosis, a weakened immune system, a weakened state, it's important that you be cautious in any waterway that you might visit," Baumgarten said. "We want people to enjoy their visits, enjoy their vacations, just be more mindful and a little more cautious when you go to enjoy those areas."