Man dies after swimming with new tattoo
Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
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Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
A 31-year-old Texas man got a tattoo on his right leg, according to a case study in the journal BMJ, and went swimming in the Gulf of Mexico five days later.
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Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
Just three days after swimming, he was admitted to Parkland Memorial Hospital in Dallas with severe pain in both of his legs and feet. He quickly developed a purple patch on his right hip.
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Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
The man's symptoms included a fever, chills and redness around his tattoo and elsewhere on his legs, including his left calf.
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Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
The man tested positive for Vibrio vulnificus, a bacterium commonly found in coastal ocean water.
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Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
The tattoo two weeks after admission. The man was kept largely sedated for weeks.
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Photos: Tattoo death from septic shock
Fluid collected in the man's right leg weeks later. His condition worsened as time went on, and he died about two months after being admitted.
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