Fear of ‘Flesh-Eating Disease’ Spreads Faster Than Cases of It : Medicine: Woman recovers in Anaheim hospital. Health experts stress virus is rare, not easily spread.

Doctors here tried to calm fears Friday about the so-called “flesh-eating disease” as a Stanton woman who recovered from a potentially fatal streptococcus virus was released from the hospital.

Kaiser Permanente physicians said they have seen five cases of severe group A streptococcal infections in the past six months, caused by the same bacteria as the more common strep throat. Three of those cases led to the condition that eats away at the filmy tissue layer that surrounds muscles.

The Anaheim doctors, along with Orange County Health Care Agency epidemiologist Hildy Meyers, stressed Friday that the disease is nothing new, remains rare and is not particularly contagious.

Meyers said the recent media descriptions of diseased victims have sent frightened county residents rushing unnecessarily to the phone to call their doctors about even minor cuts.

“This is not an epidemic. It’s a rare condition. It’s a horrible thing for anybody who gets it, but it’s not something people have to wake up in the morning and worry about,” Meyers said. “We recommend good hygiene. Wash your cuts with soap and water . . . and cover your mouth when you cough.”

One of the Kaiser patients--a 36-year-old woman who also had toxic-shock syndrome caused by the strep infection--died about a month ago. Another man was recently released from the hospital after recovering from the gangrenous disease.

The third patient was Kimberly Johnson, 23, of Stanton, who described her months-long ordeal at a press conference Friday as she thanked God for her life and legs.

“I was thinking, ‘How did it get in me and why?’ ” asked Johnson, who sat in a wheelchair, her leg bandaged and emaciated from a series of surgeries to cut out infected muscle lining.

“I didn’t have any cuts. I didn’t get bit by any bugs, and there it was. I was thinking, ‘If it can eat my flesh, it can eat my insides.’ I feel I’m very lucky to be alive. Very.”

Johnson underwent three surgeries after a thumb-size knot, which she noticed on her calf on April 15, grew to infect her leg from ankle to hip, said her doctor, infectious-disease specialist Arnold Henson.

Johnson, who has two daughters, 4 and 6, said she was in severe pain before the surgeries finally removed the infected tissue. She will undergo months of physical therapy to regain the use of her leg. Her plan upon returning home: ‘Eat some pancakes. Lots and lots of pancakes. No more hospital food.”

While the doctors stressed that the disease is nothing new, Dr. Lincoln Spurgeon, the hospital’s chief of internal medicine, said it appears there has been a gradual increase in the virulence of the bacteria strain “perhaps worldwide and especially in the United States.”

Spurgeon encouraged anyone with potential symptoms to seek medical attention.

“The important point is if someone has fever or redness, or a swelling of their extremities, they should seek medical care right away,” he said.

Meyers of the county Health Care Agency said statistics on invasive Group A streptococcal infections have not been kept long enough to assess any trends. But she stressed that few cases have been reported to the department.

Since January, 39 cases of invasive Group A strep have been reported to the county, she said. But only two of those cases were reported as leading to the so-called flesh-eating condition, known medically as necrotizing fasciitis, she said. After one victim, 43-year-old Gary Prettyman of San Clemente, went public with his story recently, other cases such as the ones revealed at Kaiser came to light, Meyers said.

There are about 10,000 to 15,000 cases across the country every year of invasive Group A streptococcal infections, and they turn into the gangrenous variety 10% to 15% of the time, Meyers said, citing federal statistics. That should translate to about five to 15 Orange County cases a year, she said.