Mosquito bites are extremely annoying and sometimes can cause diseases like dengue that can be fatal. Their bites can cause severe illnesses if the insects carry certain viruses or parasites. Recently, a German man suffered various health issues including slipping into a coma and having to go through 30 operations – all because of a mosquito.
According to a Daily Star report, 27-year-old Sebastian Rotschke, a resident of Roedermark, had a life-threatening experience after he was bitten by an Asian tiger mosquito in the summer of 2021. He first experienced flu-like symptoms which was just the beginning. Mr Rotschke had his two toes partially amputated, had to undergo thirty operations, and was in a coma for four weeks. Not only that, he also suffered from blood poisoning and had to deal with liver, kidney, heart, and lung failure on several occasions.
Further, Mr Rotschke even had to go under the knife for skin transplantation on his thigh to remove an abscess formed in that region. He thought that his chances of survival were slim because as per a tissue sample, malignant bacteria had eaten away almost halfway up his left thigh.
Talking about his experience, Mr Rotschke told Daily Star, “I haven’t been abroad. The bite must have happened here. Then the pure escalation began. I became bedridden, barely made it to the bathroom, had a fever, and couldn’t eat. I thought it was coming to an end. Suddenly I saw that my grey sweatpants were completely soaked. All of a sudden, a huge abscess formed on my left thigh. The doctors very quickly guessed that the Asian tiger mosquito bite was the cause of the whole thing and called in a specialist.”
Mr Rotschke, who is currently on sick leave, said that he is ” fine so far” and urged other people to be wary of such mosquito stings.
Asian tiger mosquitoes, also known as forest mosquitoes, are daytime-biting insects that can transmit harmful diseases like Eastern Equine Encephalitis (EEE), Zika virus, West Nile virus, Chikungunya and dengue fever.
