Paul Campbell
Paul Campbell, 56, was visting his mother in Hervey Bay nearly three weeks ago when he fell ill.
Now doctors are concerned the potentially fatal infection could be contagious and said 'preventative' antibiotics should be given to those in close contact with an affected patient.
'He was doing gardening and he said he felt like he had sunstroke,' Mr Campbell's daughter Belinda Howes told Daily Mail Australia.
'On Tuesday he was gardening - by Thursday he had had three operations,' she added.
The horrific bug has left him with huge open wounds on his thigh and stomach where doctors removed infected tissue.
'It's called necrotising faciitis and it's a superbug, it's a flesh-eating bacteria,' Ms Howes said.
'To me it's like a shark has taken a chunk out of him.'
Mr Campbell now faces at least 20 more surgeries, so skin grafts can be done to help heal the damage already done to his body.
He also faces possible amputations, and will lose one of his thumbs at the very minimum.
'His feet are completely bandaged, he could lose a couple of toes, or his feet from his ankles, or even his legs from his knees down,' Ms Howes said.
Mr Campbell was breathing on his own last week, but recently took a turn for the worse and had to undergo more surgery on Monday morning.
As the family are originally from Perth, the cost of them staying by Mr Campbell's side in the Royal Brisbane Hospital is crippling.
Depending on his recovery the grandfather could spend another 12 months there, and his wife is in the process of permanetly
'We'll try and get him transferred but again that all depends on how he goes' his daughter said.
It comes as doctors have warned that the infection could be contagious, and should be classified as so in order to keep track of cases.
The Telethon Kids Institute director Jonathan Carapetis and Dr Ronan Murray, an infectious diseases specialist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital agreed that there was a 'strong case' for giving preventative antibiotics to those close to the infected patient.
"Although it's rare, it has significant implications for the household contacts," Dr Murray told the Western Australian. "It may be that antibiotics should be offered to people ... to reduce the risk."
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"Many types of bacteria can cause necrotizing fasciitis (e.g., Group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes), Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, Bacteroides fragilis, Vibrio vulnificus, Aeromonas hydrophila[4]). The disease is classified as Type I (polymicrobial, due to a number of different organisms) or Type II (monomicrobial, due to a single infecting organism). The majority of cases of necrotizing fasciitis are polymicrobial, with 25–45% of cases being Type II.[5] Such infections are more likely to occur in people with compromised immune systems secondary to chronic disease.[6]"
"The majority of infections are caused by organisms that normally reside on the individual's skin. "
"Flesh-eating bacteria" is a misnomer, as in truth, the bacteria do not "eat" the tissue. They destroy the tissue that makes up the skin and muscle by releasing toxins (virulence factors), which include streptococcal pyogenic exotoxins."