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Necrotizing fasciitis is a destructive soft-tissue infection requiring prompt surgical intervention. Most frequently, it is a polymicrobial process, involving a mixture of aerobic and anaerobic bacteria that are typically part of the patient's resident flora, and the infection is not contagious. Less commonly, necrotizing fasciitis involves a single organism, usually Streptococcus pyogenes (Group A streptococcus), which can be transmitted from one person to another.
In this case report from Belgium, a previously healthy 8-month-old developed varicella and necrotizing fasciitis of her right arm caused by S. pyogenes. During surgical debridement, a healthy nurse accidentally cut her left second finger with the scalpel blade. The wound, treated…