Pressure chamber
The bacterium causing the gas fire can only grow if no oxygen is available. This is especially true in the soil, in deep wounds and in tissues with poor blood supply. In a pressure chamber an extremely high oxygen pressure can be achieved with overpressure, so that the bacteria die. Unfortunately, the problem here is often that the patients are not stable enough to be transported into such a chamber. This is aggravated by the fact that pressure chambers are not available everywhere in Germany.
Is it possible to vaccinate against gas fire?
In the majority of cases of illness, the gas fire is caused by the bacterium Clostridium perfringens. But other germs can also be responsible for this dangerous clinical picture. A vaccination for humans is currently not approved.
However, there is a vaccine for animals that can also be infected. Here, an attenuated form of the toxin that the bacteria release is injected into the animal’s body. In this way the immune system can recognize the toxin and be trained to fend off the invading substances. Fortunately, the frequency of the disease is extremely rare, so vaccination may not be appropriate.
Prognosis
Unfortunately the prognosis of the gas fire is very bad. Without surgical therapy, the probability of dying is said to be 100%. This means that all patients who become infected with a pathogen of the gas fire and do not get medical help in time will die. With surgical therapy, i.e. the generous removal of the affected tissue, a cleansing or even amputation, the probability of dying from the infection can be reduced to 50%. Within a few hours to days, the infection can lead to death.
Disease course of the gas fire
Gas fires are particularly dangerous because the course of the disease itself is so rapid. If the pathogen gets into a person’s wound, the disease can break out after just a few hours. The patient then complains of severe pain and the typical symptoms of the disease, such as crackling on palpation and a foul odor.
After also a few hours, a toxin released by the germ can then reach other organs of the body and put the patient’s life in danger. Because of these small time windows, there is little room for speculation and investigation. In a specific case, the treating physician must act quickly based on the typical clinical symptoms and carry out the therapy radically.
