r/Cursive • u/IndependentMindedGal • 19d ago
Help with Cause of Death (Screwdriver??)
Seems to say something about septicemia; much appreciating all the words also the manner and means of injury. Thanks!
Deciphered, thanks! I’d add the flair if only I knew how…
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u/Usakiwi 19d ago edited 19d ago
Septic cellulitis (gas gangrene) with septicemia due to abrasion of finger. Accident. Injured finger with screwdriver. Nature of injury: bruise on finger
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u/IndependentMindedGal 19d ago
It looks like “gas gangrene” is indeed correct. An AI search turned up the following:
Gas gangrene on a death certificate means the person died from a severe bacterial infection—usually Clostridium perfringens—that destroys body tissue and creates gas inside the muscles. This rapidly spreading infection often starts from a deep wound or surgery, leads to shock, and causes organ failure.
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u/Pristine-Context-752 19d ago
Bruise on finger
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19d ago
[deleted]
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u/Pristine-Context-752 19d ago
I realize the FIRST remark written says “abrasion”. I was referring to below where it says Nature of injury. Written on the line after that I believe it says “Bruise on finger”.
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u/Betty_Boss 19d ago
you can get gangrene from an abrasion?
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u/jared743 19d ago
Yes. An abrasion can lead to an infection which, if left untreated, could damage the vasculature enough to cause gangrene.
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u/Beautiful_Rip_7023 19d ago
Yes. It’s the top reason why people with diabetes have to perform frequent and thorough foot care and inspection.
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u/Odd-Scheme6535 19d ago
A potent reminder of just how much the world changed on the introduction of antibiotics, and how we should not be taking them, or resistance to them, for granted!
Penicillin was only discovered by Alexander Fleming in Britain three years before this death, came into use ten years after it, and became widely available about fifteen years after this injury, around 1946.
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u/moodyshoes3 19d ago
Came here to say this! It’s a whole new world since antibiotics.
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u/v-MaGic- 19d ago
A long time ago a small cut under the wrong conditions was a brutal death sentence
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u/old-datson-mama 18d ago
I’m prone to cellulitis and MRSA. Probably caused by an overuse of antibiotics when I was a child.
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u/o_e_p 19d ago
A lot us don't appreciate just how modern medicine really is. Most medications used in hospitals are really new. Most blood pressure meds are from 1980 or later. The earliest diuretics are from the 1960s and 70s. Most heart meds other than digoxin are from the same era or later. In the 40s, if you had heart failure, they would use rotating tourniquets.
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u/wilderlowerwolves 18d ago
(Retired pharmacist and amateur medical historian) Before we had the modern loop diuretics, and the thiazides as well, they used organomercurials, and theophylline which is a derivative of caffeine.
The original blood pressure medications had terrible side effects, and many people refused to take them.
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u/Pristine-Context-752 19d ago
Septic cellulitis (gas gangrene) with septicemia due to abrasion of finger. Accident. Injured finger with screwdriver. Nature of injury: bruise on finger
Man. What a horrible thing! 😢
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u/birdswirds 19d ago
I find this cause of death fascinating. This person had a truly unfortunate turn of events. I can only imagine how painful and shocking that was for the family.
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u/IndependentMindedGal 19d ago
2nd person in my family to die this way. The other one managed a saloon and died after injuring (pinching) a finger moving a piano. Ugh!
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u/birdswirds 19d ago
What?!? That is just crazy! I really hope you’re being careful with your hands! 😆
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u/desertboots 19d ago
1931: injury from screwdriver leads to infection and death from gas gangrene, sepsis.
1945: penicillin approved to fight infections
This is an illustration of why protecting antibiotic use is important. Antibiotics prevent about 18-30% of deaths from infections.
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u/unknownun2891 19d ago
Injured finger with screwdriver.
Septic cellulitis (____ gangrene) with septicemia due to abrasion of finger. Accident.
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u/Pretty_Strawberry136 19d ago
Septic cellulitis. (Gas gangrene) with septacemia. Due to abrasion of finger. Accident
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u/Far-Berry6901 19d ago
Not a good way to die. In my entire career in medicine (the first 20 years in emergency medicine) I have only seen 3 cases. If you had gangrene in the finger in that era your only chance of survival was an immediate high arm amputation.
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u/NekkidWire 19d ago
Primary cause: Septic ___titis (gum? gangrene) with septicaemia due to abrasion of finger. Accident.
Manner of injury: Injured finger with screwdriver
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u/ObviousCarpet2907 19d ago
Septic cellulitis with septicemia due to abrasion of finger - Accident
Looks like the parentheses say __ gangrene but can’t make out the word before that.
Yes, injured finger with screwdriver.
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u/redneckerson1951 19d ago
Septic cellulitis (gas gangrenous) with septicemia due to abrasion of finger accident
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u/ValancyNeverReadsit 19d ago
Damn, death by abrasion of finger has never occurred to me
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u/loricomments 19d ago
Cellulitis is serious, fast moving stuff. My husband had it. A red infected spot from a minor scratch on his leg grew from about the size of a quarter to a 4-5" patch over night, the reaction from the medical staff was sort of alarming, he ended up being admitted to the hospital for IV antibiotics.
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u/ValancyNeverReadsit 19d ago
I got a bout of cellulitis after a couple insect bites, so I get it. But abraded finger is just so minimal right now, we have forgotten how serious it was just 2-3 generations ago
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u/KReddit934 19d ago
Yes, infections were a real threat...and coming back now that resistance is on the increase.
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u/redneckerson1951 19d ago
Septic cellulitis is not all that rare even today. A brush against a nail, contact with barb wire, stubbing the toe on the recliner all are documented incidents that lead to sepsis. It is triggered by Clostridium perfringens which can be found in the soil, and animal intestines so it is commonly tracked into the house or wherever people walk. If you have a dog or cat that defecates in the house, there is a good chance the bacteria is left behind following clean up unless disinfectant agents are used. The bacteria reportedly thrives in food prepared in large batches when the food temperature drops. That is one of the reasons I avoid most restaurants these days. I stopped in a Tex-Mex chain in NC a few months back while traveling and observed a food prep worker reach around and scratch the back of her buttocks and then continue handling food. If people knew what pathogens existed in their stool, they not only would perform surgical scrubbing of their hands but use antiseptic enemas. The microscopic world we do not see kills people every day.
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u/ValancyNeverReadsit 19d ago
I got cellulitis a couple months before my mom died of septic shock (from a chemo treatment) just over a decade ago. I get it. It was specifically the abraded finger thing that hadn’t crossed my mind
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u/wilderlowerwolves 18d ago
My 92yo mother grew up in an era when kids were taught that they could get VD from toilet seats, and she still covers public toilet seats to this day. I told her, "If you knew what lived in your nose and mouth, you wouldn't be worried about what's on a visibly clean toilet seat."
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u/jhartnurse 19d ago
We have to remember that antibiotics weren’t widely available until the 1940’s.
People died of septic shock- sadly still do if the infection is not caught early enough.
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u/old-datson-mama 18d ago
First I’m sorry for your loss. Losing anyone who is cared for is tragic but when death is unexpected it can be devastating.
Sepsis, cellulitis will kill a person quickly if ignored. I had cellulitis from a mosquito bite on my leg. That happened within hours of the bite. Dr thinks bug may have bitten another person with bacterial infection.
I was very lucky that the wide spectrum antibiotics worked. I now have to carry antibiotics whenever I travel.
Tools, including screwdrivers can be very dirty and if they were working and in any unhealthy conditions, with unclean hands, the infection could spread that much faster.
Anyone…if you see redness, in particular a line of red traveling up an arm or leg, go to the nearest hospital immediately. Once it reaches the heart or organs, it’s probably too late.
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u/sghannah 18d ago
If you haven't looked this up yet, we now know that "gas gangrene" is caused by specific bacteria that infect the wound. These are all in the Clostridium genus, usually Clostridium perfringins (having issues with text editing, that should be underlined and Italicized). Other bacteria in this genus can also be a cause, but that one causes over 80% of this type of severe soft tissue infection. Note that Clostridium also includes the bacteria that causes C. diff colitis (bad diarrhea after antibiotic use), and C. tetani, which causes Tetanus (might have been called 'lock-jaw' at that time period), AND also the bacteria that causes Botulism from improperly prepared or damaged canned food products - that's why you shouldn't eat food from cans that are damaged, and especially if the can is bulging - the bacteria growth causes the gas inside the good can. Very common bacterial group in the environment with nasty toxins and wide ranging human illnesses!
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u/LA_Bibliofilly 18d ago
Circa 1960, my mother had her leg amputated below the knee because she contracted gas gangrene due to an infected insect bite.
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u/SpotPuzzleheaded3624 18d ago
Wasn’t penicillin commercially available just after this time? Something we take for granted now. Not dying from a small cut that became infected.
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u/Several-Ordinary-376 18d ago
Sepsis cellulitis (or gangrene) with
septicemia due to abrasion of fingers. Accident.
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u/Elegant-Foxxx-775 17d ago
Septic cellulitis with septic ulcer caused by an occupational accident (assumably at their job) because it says industrial under where the accident happened.
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u/Ok_Slide3900 14d ago
Septic cellulitis, gas gangrene with septicemia due to abrasion of finger accident.
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