Emerging Treatment for Necrotizing Infections

The National Necrotizing Fasciitis Foundation (NNFF), a 501c3 non-profit organization that seeks to raise public awareness of Necrotizing Fasciitis and offer support for those affected, is encouraging a new approach to treating necrotizing infections. The treatment and the referral initiative are crucial advances in the fight against this deadly threat, says Jacqueline Roemmele, executive director of the NNFF. Roemmele co-founded the organization in 1997 with fellow survivor, Donna Batdorff of Grand Rapids, Michigan, after her own years-long struggle with the disease and its aftermath, to offer information and emotional support to other patients and their families.

 

This approach calls for the use of NeutroPhase® Skin and Wound Cleanser in conjunction with Negative Pressure Wound Therapy. For the physicians who have utilized NeutroPhase with NPWT, not one of their patients has required amputation or suffered loss of life. As the late Dr. Crew described in a paper in the journal WOUNDS, NeutroPhase has been shown in laboratory testing to not only kill the bacteria that are known to be present in NF wounds, but also to neutralize the toxins produced by those bacteria. Unless they are neutralized, those toxins continue to destroy tissue even if the bacteria have been killed, explaining why so many patients lose body parts. Dr. Crew extrapolated from those laboratory results to try the NeutroPhase on patients with NF.  “No one I’ve been responsible for treating has lost an arm or leg, or a life,” said Dr. Crew. “We have something that will change the standard of care for this terrible disease.”

 

NeutroPhase, an FDA cleared 510(k) medical device, is the only skin and wound cleanser with a patented and pure form of hypochlorous acid (HOCl) that doesn’t contain bleach impurities. HOCl is produced by white blood cells as a first defense against microbial invaders. Lab tests show that, in solution, HOCl not only kills bacteria, it also neutralizes the toxins that kill tissue.

 

The NNFF is a founded in 1997 by two survivors of Necrotizing Fasciitis. The NNFF’s mission is to educate and raise public awareness of NF symptoms and preventative measures, to advocate research, and to offer support for those affected by necrotizing fasciitis. The NNFF supports a hotline where patients suffering from Necrotizing Fasciitis can get support from physicians familiar with treating NF and NeutroPhase to help save their limbs and lives.