Word: streptococcus
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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Severe invasive group a streptococcus is the official scientific name, but labels like "deadly flesh-eating bacteria" can be too deliciously terrifying to resist. That's what British tabloids decided when they learned that the germ had caused a mini-outbreak of lethal infections in Gloucestershire last month, bringing the death toll in England and Wales for this particularly virulent form of strep to 11 for the year. The papers fanned fears with such headlines as EATEN ALIVE and KILLER BUG ATE MY FACE. And when a handful of cases, including at least one death, were reported...
...short answer, say doctors: no way. While the streptococcus bacterium is very common -- it causes the strep throat that everyone catches sooner or later -- the publicized cases involve a deadly variant of the germ that is rare. Up to 15,000 people come down with invasive Group A strep every year, and perhaps 3,000 die. The infection is easily treatable, though, if caught early. Moreover, the microbe has been around for years, and no one thinks it will suddenly cause a pandemic...