The condition is apparently caused by bacteria and can "lead to death in as little as a few hours."
All of us store leftover food in the fridge for eating later. At times we do it knowing that some leftovers taste better, at other times it can ease our workload. But who would have thought something this simple and innocent would actually turn out to be deadly?
A 19-year-old Massachusetts college student had no idea that he would lose his legs and all the fingers on his hands after consuming leftover restaurant-bought rice, chicken, and lo mein.
According to a case documented by The New England Journal of Medicine, the teenager was doing fine for about 20 hours after eating the food. But afterward, he began experiencing abdominal pain soon, nausea, and vomiting. It got to a point where he began to feel pain in his chest, along with blurred vision, and shortness of breath, among other symptoms, according to USA Today.
If that's not scary enough, the boy's skin developed a pale, purplish discoloration. "Multiple episodes of emesis occurred, with vomitus that was either bilious or red-brown. The abdominal pain and vomiting were followed by the development of chills, generalized weakness, progressively worsening diffuse myalgias, chest pain, shortness of breath, headache, neck stiffness, and blurry vision," revealed the report that was documented in March 2021.
His condition soon worsened and had to be rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit at Massachusetts General Hospital.
There, he was treated for organ failure, shock, skin mottling, and a "rapidly progressive reticular rash". But he didn't show signs of improvement, his condition kept declining as he was diagnosed with a deadly bacterial infection called Neisseria meningitides that caused his liver to fail and his blood to clot.
The condition is apparently caused by bacteria and can "lead to death in as little as a few hours," according to the Centers for Disease and Control Prevention. The student, who was otherwise healthy with regular smoking and drinking habits, soon developed necrosis and the only way to save him was to amputate his legs below the knees and all his fingers.
The student also required a pacemaker to treat his cardiac dysfunction for 13 days.
Who knew eating leftover noodles could do this... 😰 https://t.co/JkwEJ2DnnD
— Bobby Bones Show (@bobbybonesshow) February 23, 2022
Also, it was revealed that his skin necrosis was caused by meningococcal purpura fulminant disease, a rare complication that causes septic shock, something that the college student was experiencing.
Per Newsweek, the man's friend who also ate the food only threw up once and didn't get sick. Explaining the possible reason, doctors said that the hospitalized student had only received one of three doses of meningococcal conjugate vaccine without a booster. It added that he only had one dose of the "serogroup B meningococcal vaccine out of two or three doses recommended by the CDC."
Also, according to WebMD, "the bacteria that cause food poisoning grow quickly at room temperature." Thus, to make sure that doesn't happen, "put food in the fridge or freezer in the 2 hours after it’s cooked or taken off a heat source, such as a warming tray. If it’s hot outside (above 90 F), do this within 1 hour." It also notes, "You don’t need to wait until leftovers are room temperature. You can put hot foods directly into the fridge."
References:
https://www.nejm.org/doi/story/10.1056/feature.2021.02.19.100086
https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/diseases/meningococcal-disease
https://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/ss/slideshow-leftover-facts
Representative Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Jupiterimages
