Alabama woman survives Vibrio vulnificus infection
Summerlin Skipworth, a 30‑year‑old single mother from Spanish Fort, Ala., contracted Vibrio vulnificus after cutting her foot near a boat launch in Orange Beach over Labor Day weekend, required emergency surgical washout and now carries a mobile IV antibiotic regimen while taking daily oral antibiotics for at least a year. The CBS News profile places her case amid a summer uptick in Vibrio infections across Gulf and East coasts—CDC estimates about 80,000 vibriosis cases a year and V. vulnificus carries an approximate 20% fatality rate—and state officials reported at least 59 cases this summer in Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana with multiple deaths.
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New information:
- Patient: Summerlin Skipworth, 30, injured her feet near a boat launch in Orange Beach (Labor Day weekend) and developed Vibrio vulnificus infection requiring emergency surgery.
- Treatment: she underwent a surgical washout, is using a mobile IV antibiotic infusion daily and will take at least one oral antibiotic every day for the next year.
- Public‑health data: CDC estimates ~80,000 annual U.S. vibriosis cases; V. vulnificus has about a 1‑in‑5 fatality rate; at least 59 cases were reported this summer across Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana, with five deaths in Louisiana and one in Mississippi.