[Gas gangrene cases in Hungary 1979-1986]

The authors evaluate epidemiologic data of 182 patients suffering from gas gangrene during an eight year period from 1979 to 1986. Of the patients surveyed 127 died; thus lethality reached 69.2%. The average age of the survivors was 49.9 year as opposed to the 66.1 year of the fatal cases. More than half of the illnesses followed amputation of extremities, and a quarter of them was a consequence of an accident. Samples of the bacteriologically examined wound discharges yielded in 93.1% bacteria from the Clostridium genus. Hygiene was poor in operation theatres and in the hospital environment in 1/4-th of the cases. Sixty six patients died within 24 hours after diagnosis. The presented data suggest that in Hungary the number of gas gangrene cases and deaths surpass those of tetanus.