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Girl Contracts Rare Infection After Iguana Bite
A 3-year-old girl developed a rare infection after being bitten by an iguana while on vacation with her family. The incident occurred last March when the family was enjoying cake by the water, and a wild iguana appeared, biting the girl’s finger and stealing the cake.
The Aftermath
The girl’s parents took her to a clinic where medical professionals disinfected the wound and gave her antibiotics. Despite initially healing, a bump appeared over the bite mark five months later, and the girl’s parents took her to see the doctor. While doctors initially believed the bump to be a cyst, it began to cause the girl pain, and she was taken to an orthopedist where a biopsy revealed that she had a rare infection.
The Infection
The 3-year-old girl had been infected with Mycobacterium marinum, a type of bacteria typically found in contaminated water that can cause symptoms similar to tuberculosis in fish. However, Dr. Jordan Kit Mah, a medical microbiologist at Stanford University, stated that this may be the first time someone contracted the infection from an iguana bite.
Treatment and Recovery
The slow development of symptoms makes sense because the infection is very slow to grow. Antibiotics typically aren’t effective in treating the infection, but the girl was given rifampin and clarithromycin. Dr. Mah stated that these infections take a very long time to grow and are more fastidious, and patients may need several months of treatment. However, the girl is doing better than she was initially.
Lessons Learned
The iguana bite was a rare incident, as iguanas are herbivores and generally do not attack people. However, doctors should be aware of the possibility that iguana bites can lead to infections. A presentation on the little girl’s infection is scheduled for the European Congress of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases.
