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gangrene
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gangrene

Death and decay of body tissue (often of a limb) due to bacterial action; the affected part gradually turns black and causes blood poisoning.

Gangrene sets in as a result of loss of blood supply to the area. This may be due to disease (diabetes, atherosclerosis), an obstruction of a major blood vessel (as in thrombosis), injury, or frostbite. Bacteria colonize the site unopposed, and a strong risk of blood poisoning often leads to surgical removal of the tissue or the affected part (amputation).

Gas gangrene is caused by infection of serious wounds with the bacterium Clostridium perfringens. The bacterium produces a protein, alpha toxin, that destroys healthy tissue surrounding the wound. The spread is very rapid. A vaccine against gas gangrene was successfully tested on animals 1994.



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? Mentioned in ? References in periodicals archive
 
Necrotizing fasciitis and gas gangrene caused by C.
Clostridium tertium in necrotizing fasciitis and gangrene by Yadav, T.D. / Emerging Infectious Diseases
Included in the eighty shipments of biological and chemical components were six strains of botulinum toxin, three strains of anthrax, three stains of gas gangrene bacteria, West Nile fever virus, and Dengue fever virus.
What Bush didn't want you know about Iraq by Niman, Michael I. / The Humanist
Through 25 United Nations inspections, Iraq successfully hid five labs that made thousands of liters of the germs that cause anthrax, botulism, and gas gangrene.
Germ warfare: new threat from terrorists by Sternberg, Steve / Science News
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