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As concern remains over the presence of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection in Prince William County Public Schools, officials continue efforts to keep parents informed. "We are trying to stay on top of this," said Irene Cromer, school district spokeswoman. Three new cases - all students - were confirmed at Glenkirk Elementary School, Saunders Middle School and Rippon Middle School, the school district announced Tuesday. The total number of cases of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus infection, or MRSA, in Prince William schools is 12.

MRSA 'deadlier than bioweapons' Last Updated: 2:44am BST 23/10/2007 Superbugs such as MRSA pose a far greater threat to humanity than bioterrorism, a genetics pioneer claimed. Dr Venter warns of the superbug threat The warning came from Craig Venter, an American scientist currently working on a project which uses DNA building blocks to create the world's first synthetic life form. Critics argue that artificially-created microbes – bacteria which can cause disease – potentially pose a grave danger, by either invading the environment or being used to manufacture deadly bioweapons. But Dr Venter maintains that drug-resistant bacteria such as MRSA are...

WASHINGTON -- School and public health officials are trying to calm the fears of parents who have flooded their phones with questions about an antibiotic-resistant strain of staph infection. D.C. Officials have confirmed at least one case of staph infection in D.C. Public Schools. A teacher from Davis Elementary School in Southeast is the latest person to be diagnosed. The D.C. Department of Health is investigating reports of a staph infection from two teachers at Drew Elementary School in Northeast, but the cases have not been confirmed. Parents of D.C. Public School students received automated phone calls Thursday night informing...

Prince William County Schools had four new cases of the antibiotic-resistant staph infection, bringing the total to nine. The new student cases were confirmed at Benton Middle School, Lake Ridge Elementary and Vaughan Elementary schools. The employee case was reported at Freedom High School. The school district released the information about the new cases Friday evening

A high school student hospitalized for more than a week with an antibiotic-resistant staph infection died on Monday, as schools across the country were reporting outbreaks of staph infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain. The student, Ashton Bonds, 17, was a senior at Staunton River High School in Moneta, Va., and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, was diagnosed in him, his mother said. Officials shut down all 22 schools in Bedford County for cleaning today in an effort to keep the illness from spreading, after students at Staunton River organized a protest overnight Monday, using text messages and social networking sites....

A dangerous germ that has been spreading around the country causes more life-threatening infections than public health authorities had thought and is killing more people in the United States each year than the AIDS virus, federal health officials reported yesterday.

I have been reading (and praying) for Darnright's prayer thread about the highschool boys in TX with MRSA. (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1909418/posts) I am so sorry about the passing of Ashton. It breaks my heart. It is not right that a parent should ever have to bury a child. I know. Lord, be with Ashton's family in this time of loss. I am posting this - because I, also have been diagnosed with MRSA. (Five days ago). The antibiotics are not working, and I would be so greatful to have a little prayer. My laptop is a good diversion, and being able to...

AP Medical Writer More than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from a drug-resistant staph "superbug," the government reported Tuesday in its first overall estimate of invasive disease caused by the germ. Deaths tied to these infections may exceed those caused by AIDS, said one public health expert commenting on the new study. The report shows just how far one form of the staph germ has spread beyond its traditional hospital setting. The overall incidence rate was about 32 invasive infections per 100,000 people. That's an "astounding" figure, said an editorial in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical...

Staph Infection Kills Virginia Student, Prompts Closing of 21 Schools Tuesday , October 16, 2007 BEDFORD, Va. — A high school student has died as the result of a treatment-resistant staph infection, prompting Virginia officials to shut down 21 schools to keep the illness from spreading. Ashton Bonds, 17, a senior at Staunton River High School in Bedford, Va., died Monday after being hospitalized for a week with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, his mother said. "I want people to know how sick it made my son," Veronica Bonds said.

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...

Unclean and uncaring nurses in the U.K. are blamed may have spread superbugs that led the deaths of the patients they were charged with caring for. The nurses are accused of not washing their hands and of leaving patients lying in soiled beds. They were cited in an official report blaming mismanagement for the deaths of 90 people who contracted a bacterial infection in hospitals in southern England. The report into the spread of the highly contagious bacterium said nurses at three hospitals run by the Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS trust were often too busy to wash their hands...

Would all who are so inclined please pray for 2 young men at my daughter's high school, who have been stricken with MRSA? One is fighting for his life, and his situation is very serious. The infection is in his bloodstream, and he could lose his life. The other young man may lose his leg. Can you please pray for Ashton and Cody? There are 2 high schools in my area, that have students who've been infected with MRSA.

Last Updated: Sunday, 12 August 2007, 10:10 GMT 11:10 UK Hospital food hygiene 'is poor' Cockroaches and vermin were foundin some hospital kitchens Almost half of hospital kitchens and canteens in England have poor hygiene standards, a dossier has suggested. The Liberal Democrats said inspection reports obtained under the Freedom of Information Act painted a "shocking picture" of hospital food hygiene. Vermin, cockroaches and the storage of medical and food items together were reported by some local authorities. The Food Standards Agency said it would expect any authority with hospital food hygiene problems to take action. 'Wrong temperatures'The Liberal Democrats...

Source: Society of Chemical Industry Date: August 1, 2007 Instant Steam Takes On Antibiotic Resistant 'Superbugs' Like MRSA Science Daily — A method for making instant steam, without the need for electricity, promises to be useful for tackling antibiotic resistant 'superbugs' like MRSA and C. difficile, as well as removing chewing gum from pavements and powering environmentally friendly cars, reports Nina Morgan in Chemistry & Industry, the magazine of the SCI. 'The value of instant steam lies in creating truly portable steam that can be generated intermittently on demand,' says Dave Wardle, business development director at Oxford Catalysts. The company...

Around 60,000 people could be infected this year with the most widespread hospital superbug despite campaigns to tackle the problem, new figures out today show.In the first three months of this year 15,592 people over the age of 65 were infected with Clostridium difficile, a two per cent rise on the same period last year. The bug takes hold in the guts of patients who have been given antibiotics and causes thousands of deaths. There were a total of 55,634 cases of C.Diff in 2006. The new figures from the Health Protection Agency show rates of the other major health...

Staph superbug may be infecting patients June 25, 2007 02:04:50 PM PST A dangerous, drug-resistant staph germ may be infecting as many as 5 percent of hospital and nursing home patients, according to a comprehensive study. At least 30,000 U.S. hospital patients may have the superbug at any given time, according to a survey released Monday by the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology. The estimate is about 10 times the rate that some health officials had previously estimated. Some federal health officials said they had not seen the study and could not comment on its methodology or...

Supermarket meat 'could be MRSA infected' By Harry Wallop, Consumer Affairs Correspondent Last Updated: 12:39am BST 25/06/2007 Pork, beef and chicken in supermarkets could be infected with a strain of MRSA, according to a report today by organic campaigners which warns that the issue could become "a new monster". The bacterium is sweeping northern Europe and has already infected one in five of all pork products on sale in Holland, from where Britain imports almost two thirds of all its pork, the report claims. The strain found in Holland, Denmark, Belgium and Germany is different from MRSA found in British...

Close window Published online: 4 May 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070430-13 Maggots eat up resistant bacteriaCreepy crawlies are the latest weapon in the anti-MRSA arsenal.Katharine Sanderson It looks bad, but it works: maggots can clean out some foot wounds better than drugs. The drug-resistant bug MRSA has a new adversary — the maggot. Researchers in Manchester, UK, have just won a grant to compare maggots with other more hi-tech treatments for people with diabetes who suffer from infected feet. A quarter of all people with diabetes are at risk of foot ulcers, because of the reduced blood circulation caused by the...

Close window Published online: 4 April 2007; | doi:10.1038/news070402-6 Weak drug combos find new useAntibiotics that don't work could beat back resistant bacteria.John Whitfield You would think that a combination of antibiotics that is less effective than either drug on its own would be fairly useless. But researchers now say that such ineffectual mixes could be used in the campaign against resistance to the drugs. The counterintuitive conclusion comes from the observation — so far seen only in the lab — that less-effective drug mixes allow bacteria that are sensitive to drugs to out-compete those that are resistant them....

The alarmingly high number of life-threatening infections occurring in U.S. hospitals has prompted medical staffs and state lawmakers to focus on better awareness and take steps to reduce the spread. "For too long" hospitals and dialysis centers "have kept patient infections a dirty secret," said Lisa McGiffert, director of Consumer Union's Stop Hospital Infections campaign. "But now, more states are moving to make infection rates public, so consumers can make smarter health care choices, and hospitals have a stronger incentive to improve patient care."