Hyperbaric oxygen as adjunctive therapy in Vibrio vulnificus septicemia and cellulitis.

One of the most common bacteria in tropical to subtropical seawater, Vibrio vulnificus is an invasive, gram-negative bacillus and recognized as a cause of fulminant primary septicemia, wound infections and gastrointestinal disorders. In the United States, it is found predominantly along the coastlines of those states that border the Gulf of Mexico, but has also been isolated from areas in New England and the northern Pacific Coast. Vibrio vulnificus infections can occur in patients with underlying liver disease, who have acquired the organism through the gastrointestinal tract after recent consumption of raw shellfish, or through inoculation of bacterium through contamination of a wound with seawater.