Septic shock from penetrating leg injury with Vibrio vulnificus infection

To the Editor: A 70-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with intense pain, erythema, oedema and haemorrhagic bullae of the right lower leg. Twenty-four hours earlier, she had fallen into warm seawater on the south coast of New South Wales, sustaining a penetrating wound by an unknown object. She reported developing excruciating pain and the noted leg changes within hours of the injury. She had a history of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), managed long-term with 7.5 mg oral prednisone daily.