For this 81-year-old Australian, moving furniture almost caused him his death. The elderly man, whose name is unknown, scratched his leg when he bashed it against an unidentified object in his house. It turns out he caught a rare flesh-eating bug while re-organising his house
A deadly fungus which was living on the piece of furniture then entered his bloodstream. Doctors spent two months trying to keep him alive after antibiotics failed to tackle the Saksenaea vasiformis bug. The infection, in the meantime oozed an unpleasant smell. The Saksenaea vasiformis is a rare fungal pathogen in humans with less than 50 documented cases, experts wrote in BMJ case reports.
It is unsure as to exactly when the patient, believed to be from the Port Augusta region, developed the infection, but doctors said he sought medical attention nine days after slightly gashing his leg while re-organising his house - but had not experienced any bleeding.
Upon his arrival to his closest A&E, staff found him to have huge gashes on both of his knees and took swabs of both wounds.
The one on his left was seen to be healing well, as opposed to the one on his right, which was where he hurt himself.
Despite being given antibiotics, his pain worsened. Five days later, his wound had grown. It then began to show signs of improvement, before it deteriorated again, doctors at the Port Augusta Hospital said.
The injury had stretched to be 8x8cm after two weeks in hospital, and was giving off an unpleasant smell. Doctors made the decision to ramp up his drug doses in a bid to slow down the bug, before deciding to take him to surgery later that day.
Initially the operation proved to be a success, But it quickly deteriorated again and the patient's swabs showed signs of a fungal infection in the form of Saksenaea vasiformis.
He was transferred the following day to a specialist centre dedicated to infectious diseases nearby.
Doctors then linked him up to an IV drip to help flush out the infection, allowing the wound to steadily improve. Thirty-four days after his injury, the patient underwent a skin graft from a donor site on his upper right thigh.
He remains in hospital, but doctors said he is making good progress.
