A MUM-of-two has died from a rare infection after being bitten by a friend’s dog.
Tracy Ridout, 53, from Perth, Australia, suffered a small bite while looking after the young German Shepherd last month.
She “didn’t think anything of it” at the time but started feeling agonising pain after a few days and drove to Rockingham General Hospital early on August 18.
Doctors found she had a Capnocytophaga canimorsus infection that was affecting her kidneys, liver and blood.
Tracy’s condition rapidly deteriorated and she died 11 days later, after being put in an induced coma.
Writing on the family’s fundraiser page, her daughter Sophie said: “Unfortunately today Tracy has sadly passed away.
“She will be missed by all her friends and family.”
Capnocytophaga canimorsus is a bacteria found in the mouths of dogs and cats.
Infections in humans are very rare, with just 56 cases reported in England and Wales last year.
Most people do not get ill with the infection, but it can be deadly in people with weaker immune systems, such as those on medication for cancer or with HIV.
Symptoms include blisters near the wound, redness, swelling, pain and fever.
Tracy did not notice any symptoms after the bite initially.
Sophie told PerthNow: “It was not vicious or anything, she was playing with the dog and accidentally bit her finger instead of the toy.
“She didn’t think anything of it, just bandaged it up.”
Tracy started to feel pain around the wound a week after she was bitten and tried to treat it with Nurofen and Panadol, but the drugs did not work.
After being diagnosed in hospital, she was transferred to the Fiona Stanley Hospital, where doctors told the family there was nothing more they could do to save her.
Sophie said: “All of her organs pretty much shut down.”
She was taken off dialysis and doctors said they were ready “just to let her go” on August 25, four days before she died.
The family are now raising funds via GoFundMe to cover Tracy’s funeral costs and bills, and also want to raise awareness of the dangers of dog bites.
Sophie said: “Even if it’s just like a little bite from the dog, which was the case for Mum, just get it checked out.”
