'BLESSED TO BE ALIVE' MAN SURVIVES FLESH-KILLING BACTERIA INFECTION.

Byline: Lisa M. Sodders Staff Writer

ENCINO - A North Hills man who contracted flesh-killing bacteria was released from the hospital Friday, thankful to be alive and grateful to family and friends who prayed for him during three rounds of surgery.

His chest criss-crossed with stitches, Allan Schuman appeared in good spirits during a news conference at Encino-Tarzana Regional Medical Center, where he was admitted Dec. 30.

``I'm so blessed to be alive today,'' said Schuman, 63, who was accompanied by his wife of 40 years, Maxine, and the physicians who treated his life-threatening case of necrotizing fasciitis, better known as flesh- killing bacteria.

Schuman, who works as a contract manager for corporate procurement for The Walt Disney Co., was visiting his grandchildren in Oregon and preparing to fly home Dec. 28 when he noticed a lump on his neck, which he mistook for a pimple. Usually an active person, he was surprised to find himself feeling sluggish.

He took a nap, but by afternoon was running a slight fever. Later that evening, he struggled to walk through the Burbank Airport. A doctor prescribed antibiotics the next day, but when Schuman's breathing became shallow on Dec. 30, he went straight to the emergency room.

Dr. Michael Bell, director of the emergency room, said making the diagnosis was like ``pulling a rabbit out of my hat.''

Bell has treated about four cases of necrotizing fasciitis in the past eight years, and he knew from examining the ``thick, woody type of skin'' on Schuman's neck and his chest that something far more virulent than a typical skin infection was at work.

``Many forms of this kind of infection can spread over a centimeter an hour, which is incredibly fast. Had he waited another day, he probably wouldn't have made it.''

Schuman's blood pressure was ``deathly low,'' Bell said, and he was in shock, so Bell began treating him with an intravenous combination of antibiotics penicillin and clindamycin. Within 20 minutes, surgeons had whisked Schuman up to the operating room.

Dr. Mudjianto Chandra, a general surgeon, made five curved incisions in Schuman's chest, and Dr. Marc Kerner, a head and neck surgeon, made an incision from just under Schuman's ear lobe to the midpoint of his throat. Then they removed the infected tissue layer covering the muscle, just below the skin.

Schuman said he was unaware he had contracted the sometimes-fatal disease until doctors informed him after surgery, when he was on a ventilator.

Mortality rates for the disease vary, Bell said, ranging from 50 to 80 percent. Patients are killed either by the bacteria or by the overwhelming shock of the toxins produced by that bacteria.

Doctors still aren't sure how Schuman became infected. Necrotizing fasciitis is a form of invasive Group A streptococcus commonly found in the throat or on the skin. Most of the infections are relatively mild, resulting in illnesses such as strep throat or impetigo, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

But if that bacteria overcomes the body's normal defenses, either through a break in the skin or because the person's immune system is compromised, a more serious infection can result.

Doctors predicted Schuman will make a full recovery and have full range of motion.

``What this shows is the power of prayer and love because I have so many friends around the world who have been so supportive of me and my wife,'' Schuman said.

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Photo:

Maxine Schuman, 64, of North Hills kisses her husband, Allan Schuman, 63, after he is released from the hospital Friday.

Tina Burch/Staff Photographer