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Friday, March 29, 2024

Staph infection becoming a growing problem

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By now, the term staph infection is no longer foreign.

One of the first reported Indiana cases of staphylococcus aureus or MRSA or “staph,” a common bacterium that lives on the human skin and in the nasal passageways was at Richmond High School in Richmond, Ind. The infection was treated as if it were an antibiotic-resistant strain blamed for the death of a Virginia high school senior, according to the superintendent.

Earlier this week, teacher Ronald H. Sokolow, 58, was diagnosed with staph infection and was in isolation at St. Vincent Hospital

Sokolow, who was teaching at School 43, 150 W. 40th St., said he noticed the infection on his foot on Oct. 15, but thought it was an insect bite.

Schools in Southern and Eastern Indiana also have reported cases of students infected with a potentially deadly antibiotic-resistant staph infection.

A growing problem for years, particularly in hospitals and nursing homes, staph infection has suddenly become a nationwide problem with cases popping up in schools more frequently.

“We have the knowledge to stop this problem,” Betsy McCaughey, chairman of the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths told USA Today. “What has been lacking is the will.”

Also called the “super bug,” many government health specialists and local officials have acknowledged that the nation has done little to stop the problem. A study recently indicated that MRSA kills 18,000 Americans each year.

According to Jean Svendsen, chief nurse consultant for the Indiana State Department of Health and Tracy Powell, an advanced analysis epidemiologist, in the U.S. in 1972, (health care acquired or HA) MRSA accounted for only 2 percent of all health care-acquired infections, which was reported by the CDC. Recent data show that HA-MRSA now accounts for 50-70 percent of health care acquired infections.”

McCaughey says she blames the CDC for their “lax guidelines” because they have “given hospitals an excuse to do too little.”

John Jernigan, an MRSA expert at the CDC, told USA Today that its guidelines call for hospitals and health care facilities to fund prevention programs, track infection rates, teach staff members the best infection-control practices and ensure those are followed.

“The agency has the best MRSA guidelines out there,” he said.

According to Svendsen and Powell, in Indiana, most community-acquired (CA) MRSA cases originate in correctional facilities and competitive sports teams in high school and college. Infections have been associated with direct skin-to-skin contact through cuts and abrasions and indirect contact, such as sharing contaminated sports equipment, towels and clothing as well as crowded living conditions and poor hygiene.

They say individual cases of MRSA are not reported in Indiana because the infection is so common.

However, as seen of late, any outbreaks are immediately reportable to local health departments for investigation.

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