Hours after eating leftovers from a restaurant, a 19-year-old was hospitalized with multiple organ failure and had both his legs and all of his fingers amputated.
The Massachusetts student had eaten rice, chicken, and lo mein from a restaurant. Soon after, he felt a stomachache and his skin turned purple, according to a report from The New England Journal of Medicine.
The teen was hospitalized for “shock, multiple organ failure and skin rash”, and his condition deteriorated rapidly. He suffered from abnormal breathing, high blood pressure and vomiting. The student was generally healthy with regular drinking and smoking habits, the report said.
After further testing, he was diagnosed with meningococcal disease, which the report said caused his neck stiffness, nausea, difficulty breathing, shock and organ failure.
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The condition is caused by bacteria and brings with it symptoms such as sudden fever and vomiting. The Centers for Disease and Control Prevention warn that it “can lead to death in just a few hours.”
During his hospital stay, his condition deteriorated and he developed necrosis, the death of tissue and cells. At the time, doctors had to amputate his legs and fingers, according to the report. He also needed a pacemaker for 13 days to treat his heart dysfunction.
Experts have warned of the dangers of improperly storing leftover rice, as products such as rice and pasta contain a bacteria called Bacillus cereus. The bacterium produces a toxin when heated and left out for too long, according to the CDC. In 2019, a teen died in his sleep after eating leftover pasta that hadn’t been refrigerated overnight, a case reported in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology.
The medical team learned that although the Massachusetts student had received a first dose of the meningococcal vaccine, he had never received the recommended booster. His roommate also ate the leftover food and vomited, but had no life-threatening reactions.
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Leftover food caused illness that left teens without legs and fingers
