Close up of species of crab common in China
A Singaporean man died from a flesh-eating bacterial infection after being pricked by a crab, said his son on Thursday. Tan Boon Hock, 83, was preparing live crabs for dinner a month ago when he was pricked on the back of his hand, said his son, Tan Aik Cheng. “I believe when he was washing the crabs he was probably pricked by the shell of the crab,” said Tan. His father did not initially complain of discomfort and simply put a plaster over the cut, he said. About midnight, the elder Tan started having a fever, vomiting, and developed diarrhea.At first he refused to go to hospital, but at dawn the family called an ambulance that took him to National University Hospital. He was ‘in critical condition Tan said: “Paramedics said he was in a critical condition and his heartbeat was irregular and blood pressure critically low.”The doctors told me that my dad was infected by a flesh-eating bug called Vibrio and they needed to amputate the arm below the elbow to remove the source of infection.”Doctors said the infection started from the hand, said Tan.His father’s condition continued to deteriorate after the amputation and he died two days after he was pricked.