Mariana Bridi, a 20-year old model, and almost-Miss World pageant winner from Brazil died of complications from an infection that led doctors to amputate both her hands and her feet, then remove parts of her stomach just before she died. The infection is believed to have resulted from a combination of kidney stones and a urinary tract infection (UTI.)
Mariana died from septicemia caused by the bacterium Pseudomonas aeruginosa which is known to be resistant to antibiotics. It has a mind of its own, and there is no drug strong enough to kill it, just like some forms of MRSA and other superbug infections. It could not be controlled.
Now some news outlets are suggesting she was misdiagnosed, and that led to her death. I'm not so sure.
Other reports suggest her treatment was not aggressive enough at first, and had the doctors prescribed tough antibiotics early on, then the infection would not have taken hold as it did. That's second guessing. Infections take hold and spread for so many reasons. It would likely be impossible to come to a provable solution.
It makes more sense for us to see what we can learn from this very sad result. I think there are two lessons for us:
First -- have you ever taken sick, seen your doctor, undergone treatment and found that you just aren't getting better? Even if it doesn't seem to be getting worse right away, you owe it to yourself to either find a second opinion doctor (plan A) or return to the doctor that may not have diagnosed you correctly to begin with (plan B). Keep seeking the answer.
Second-- understand that the reason these infections can't be beat by antibiotics is because antibiotics have been over-prescribed for so many years. Too many patients expect a doctor to prescribe an antibiotic for every little sniffle. Don't do it! Instead, when you get sick, have a frank conversation with your doctor about whether or not an antibiotic is called for.
No matter whether you are one of the beautiful people or not, it's your health, and your life -- and you must fight to get the care you deserve, and the care that will help you in the long term, too.
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Photo from Mariana Bridi's website
Did the news stories report how many times Mariana had contacted any medical personel after the first time? Did they provide any informed opinions on what they thought should have been done differently? I would be interested to know what the facts were surrounding her illness. I found very little information in the stories I read as to how she took ill, how and when she sought medical attention and whether there were problems at those times or even later that led to the infection reaching the catastrophic proportions that it did.