Hello,
we are Streptococcus pyogenes but you might know us as
flesh eating bacteria.
We are spherical bacteria and grow in long chains so that we can always be close to our friends. We are the cause of Strep throat, which is pretty painful but not life threatening. Others times, we might give you a mild skin infection.
But its our ability to cause necrotizing fasciitis that makes us famous. This involves a deep infection of skin or tissue. To start off, the affected area becomes painful, then red, hot and swollen. This is followed by death of the infected area accompanied by a high fever. Over 70% of people will die if not treated.
But even when treated, antibiotics take such a long time to work that amputation of infected organs is required to stop the spread of the infection. Even when treated, a quarter of people die and most are left severely disfigured. We should point out that we don't actually eat your flesh, despite what you might think. We're not complete monsters. Instead, we produce various toxins that destroy skin and muscle. But its not just our fault - your own immune cells react so strongly to us that the resulting inflammation kills your own tissues. Duh.
