Staph among us

The Washington Times ^ | 10-16-07 | Shelley Widhalm

[JZelle]

Thirty percent of the population at any one time carries colonies of staphylococcus aureus on their skin and in their nose.

One percent carries colonies of the antibiotic-resistant version of the bacteria that recently infected students in Anne Arundel County, Md., and Rappahannock County, Va., public schools.

Carrying the bacteria known as staph is common, but it usually doesn't lead to an infection, area doctors say.

"Colonization is to have staph on our skin without any symptoms," says Dr. Jose Bordon, associate director of the Internal Medicine Residency Program, Section of Infectious Diseases, at Providence Hospital in Northeast. "However, colonized people are carriers and the source of staph spreading in the community," he says.

Staph can enter the body through a cut, scrape or other wound or be transmitted by skin-on-skin contact with an infected person or contact with contaminated items and surfaces, according to a fact sheet provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta.

"It's everywhere. It's on counters. It's on our skin," says Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a membership organization of public health professionals based in Northwest. "What happens is, because it's everywhere, if you get a cut or crack in your skin, or you're ill and your resistance goes down, the organism has an opportunity to grow."

Staph can appear as small red bumps that look like pimples, spider bites or boils, as abscesses that need to be drained surgically or as cellulitis, a type of infection that affects the skin's deeper layers, according to metro-area physicians. In more severe cases, staph can cause blood-stream infections; damage bones, joints and organs; or lead to pneumonia, they say.

[-=SoylentSquirrel=-]

It's the Mexi-staph.

We are powerless to stop it.

[svcw]

Thats it I am doomed.
I am allergic to both penicillin (and derived antibiotics) and cephalosporins.

[CarrotAndStick]

"It's everywhere. It's on counters. It's on our skin," says Dr. Georges Benjamin, executive director of the American Public Health Association, a membership organization of public health professionals based in Northwest. "What happens is, because it's everywhere, if you get a cut or crack in your skin, or you're ill and your resistance goes down, the organism has an opportunity to grow."

If this is the same thing that causes MRSA, we have a far, far more serious problem than AIDS ever will be. This has reached crisis proportions in some British hospitals, IIRC, due to the abuse of antibiotics.

[LonePalm]

No problem. We'll call a staph meeting.

Garde la Foi, mes amis! Nous nous sommes les sauveurs de la République! Maintenant et Toujours!
(Keep the Faith, my friends! We are the saviors of the Republic! Now and Forever!)
LonePalm, le Républicain du verre cassé (The Broken Glass Republican)

[Froufrou]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302299,00.html

A 17-year-old student has died and they have closed 21 schools.

[lilylangtree]

Explains why Dingy Harry is dingy.

[A CA Guy]

Skid row folks in Los Angeles have the public employees all worried because there is this highly contagious staff germ in the homeless and drug addicts that spreads easily.

I hear it takes 6 months of taking one of those antibiotics of last resort to maybe get over it.

[Cletus.D.Yokel]

Did anyone notify NASCAR and the Democratchik staffers?

Given the right medium, this story might bloom.

[CarrotAndStick]

TABLE 3.

Regional distribution of MRSA and tetracycline resistance determinants

Regiona	No. (%) of isolates
	Unique isolates	MRSA	Total Tetr	tet(M)	tet(K)	tet(M) tet(K)
NA	165	84 (50.9)	10 (11.9)	0	10 (100)	0
LA	42	6 (14.3)	0	0	0	0
IND	20	0	0	0	0	0
TWN	5	2 (40)	2 (100)	0	1 (50)	1 (50)
AUS	18	4 (22.2)	2 (50)	2 (100)	0	0
EE	199	13 (6.5)	6 (46.2)	0	5 (83.3)	1 (16.7)
WE	18	8 (44.5)	1 (12.5)	0	1 (100)	0
SAF	36	3 (8.3)	2 (66.7)	1 (50)	0	1 (50)
Total	503	120 (23.9)	23 (19.2)	3 (13)	17 (73.9)	3 (13)

^aNA, North America (the United States and Canada); LA, Latin America (Argentina, Chile, Guatemala, Mexico, and Peru); IND, India; TWN, Taiwan; AUS, Australia; EE, Eastern Europe (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, and Ukraine); WE, Western Europe (Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, and the United Kingdom); SAF, South Africa.

[SF Republican]

A lady in our office just got home from a week in the hospital and is expected to be home for a month before returning to work. They said she was very lucky to be alive after catching a staph infection.

[Dick Vomer]

quinolones and vancomycin for you my friend...

[Alright_on_the_LeftCoast]

I’ve had a couple severe staph infections derived from riding airplanes and their absolutely useless recirculatory air systems...had it my eyes and sinuses...plus got a body hit, like big boils. My mothers best friend died 4 months ago from Staph infection of the heart she contracted while in hospital being treated for flu. Hospitals are ALIVE with it, can never get rid of it...bad stuff

[wtc911]

Cellulitis can kill, it is not something to be taken lightly.

[Explodo]

I am a MRSA survivor. Fought it for almost 4 months...spent a few weeks in the hospital. It was on my left knee and ended up rotting a hole the size of a baseball out of my leg.

What pisses me off about it was the way it was contracted....From a local Gym here in the twin cities...a gym where 57 confirmed cases were centered. NO one told anyone anything...nor were we told the gym could be a transmission vector.

And to top it off, After the fact the CDC comes in and says “Yes...the Twin Cities has a Problem” and that was about it.

Now I get to live with the fact that this crap will most likely come back...and my wife and children will most likely be infected (If they aren’t already)...

Next time it might just kill me...or you...or someone you love.

AIDS is a popcorn fart in a gale in comparison to this stuff.

[this is my name not yours]

"If this is the same thing that causes MRSA, we have a far, far more serious problem than AIDS ever will be. This has reached crisis proportions in some British hospitals, IIRC, due to the abuse of antibiotics."

YES. It is MRSA.

[JZelle]

Sorry to hear what you went through. I think this is just the tip of the iceberg compared to what else is migrating up here.

[Explodo]

We’re getting A few cases of the Drug Resistant TB...Especially in the areas of the State where we have concentrations of Illegals...Then we have a whole host of issues dealing with the Anti-immunization nuts. We’re worried about Whooping cough at the moment as there is a cluster of Tin Foil Granola types who won’t immunize their children.

[CarrotAndStick]

It’s not just with the drug addicts... it thrives in environments like gymnasiums and other places: a freeper mentioned two 17-year-old who contracted it in a school gym. Another freeper mentioned himself contracting the germ.

[mpackard]

an 11 year old here just passed away from a staph-infection and they are considering shutting the schools down here. She got a bug bite that she scratched and it somehow got into her blood. THey had her funeral accross the street this morning. Horrible.