According to the responsible state office, there was the first death this year in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania after a vibrio infection. As the State Office for Health and Social Affairs (Lagus) announced, it was a 74-year-old vacationer who bathed in the Baltic Sea in September and died as a result of the illness.

He therefore had open wounds and was chronically ill. It was not immediately clear whether it was the first death nationwide this year.

Avoid contact with sea water

The state office pointed out that the risk of illness essentially exists for people with certain risks - for example with certain chronic underlying diseases or immune deficiency. Older people are also at risk. Bathers who belong to these risk groups and have skin injuries should therefore avoid contact with sea or brackish water.

Lagus pointed out the first recorded vibrio infection of the current bathing season at the end of August - it affected an 86-year-old who had to be treated in a hospital. She also had chronic illnesses and an open wound. According to Lagus, vibrios have been detected at various checkpoints from the west to the east coast in the state.

According to previous information, a total of ten vibrio infections were reported in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in 2022, and six cases in 2021.