Fournier’s Gangrene

Why in news?

• After the U.S. and Canada, India has reported the first case of Fournier’s Gangrene from Type 2 diabetes patients using sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.

What is Fournier’s Gangrene?

• Fournier’s gangrene is also called necrotizing fasciitis (flesh-eating disease).
• It is a serious bacterial infection that affects the genitals and areas around the genitals.
• The infection commonly occurs in older men, but it can also occur in women and children.

Relation between Fournier’s Gangrene and Diabetes medication:

• Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2(SGLT2) inhibitors (a class of Type 2 diabetes medication) are recommended as preferred add-on oral anti-diabetic drugs (OADs) after metformin.
• However, several diabetic patients taking the SGLT2 inhibitor drugs have been infected by Fournier’s Gangrene.
• Recently, India has reported the first case of Fournier’s Gangrene from this diabetes medication.

Steps taken by the Government after this:

• Central Drugs Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) has requested all State Drug Controllers to direct the manufacturers of SGLT2 inhibitor class drugs, named Canagliflozin, Dapagliflozin and Empagliflozin under their jurisdiction to include warnings in the package.

About diabetes:

• Diabetes is a chronic, metabolic disease characterized by elevated levels of blood glucose (or blood sugar), which leads over time to serious damage to the heart, blood vessels, eyes, kidneys and nerves.
• The most common is type-2 diabetes, usually in adults, which occurs when the body becomes resistant to insulin or doesn’t make enough insulin.
• In the past three decades the prevalence of type-2 diabetes has risen dramatically in countries of all income levels, according to the World Health Organization.

PRACTICE QUESTION:

Fournier’s Gangrene, widely discussed in news, is:

(a) A bacterium capable of breaking down and consuming the plastic

(b) A serious bacterial infection that affects the genitals

(c) A method to prevent mosquito bites

(d) A diabetes medication

Answer