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Dangerous Staph Infections
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John Henry
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Oct 21, 2007 00:17 PDT
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The Lord Jesus said, "... Take heed that no man deceive you.
For many shall come in my name, saying, I am Christ; and shall
deceive many. And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars:
see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but
the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and
kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and
pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
All these are the beginning of
sorrows." (Matthew 24:4-8) The "sorrows"
here are like those of a woman when she about to delivered her
child. God told Eve that He would "greatly multiply [her]
sorrow and [her] conception; in sorrow [she would] bring forth
children" (Genesis 3:16). Similarly a "sign of [Christ's]
coming, and of the end of the world" (Matthew 24:3) will be as a
woman's birth pains increase as time for delivery nears. All five
of the things in Matthew 24:4-7 (false christs, wars, famines,
pestilences, earthquakes) will be simultaneously increasing as the time
of the end draws near. Research shows that this is in fact
occurring in our lifetime.
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A DANGEROUS STRAIN
Schools Take Precautions Amid New Staph InfectionsOctober
19, 2007
By Gina Damron, Tina Lam And Cecilia Oleck, Free Press Staff
Writers
Three new student cases of a potentially deadly type of staph infection
have come to light in metro Detroit, and schools across the region are
scrubbing down locker rooms and disinfecting sports equipment to prevent
spreading the antibiotic-resistant bacteria.
The infection also has been found in the Oakland County Jail, according
to an undersheriff and a deputy's lawsuit.
A student at Rochester Reuther Middle School and two football players at
Grosse Pointe South High have been diagnosed as having
methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus, or MRSA -- which can cause mild skin
irritations to more severe infections that can become
deadly.
Students who have skin irritations that resemble those caused by the
infection at high schools in Troy and Utica and an intermediate school in
Ortonville are being tested, school officials said Thursday. A varsity
football player at Troy High School who was believed to be infected was
cleared Thursday, though he does have some form of a staph infection,
said district spokesman Tim McAvoy.
School districts throughout Michigan and the nation were warning and
reassuring parents this week, even as they disinfected locker rooms,
weight rooms and athletic equipment and informed students about the
importance of personal hygiene and keeping athletic gear cleaned. MRSA
outbreaks have been reported across the country, with one high school
student in Virginia dying Monday.
"It is important that parents know to have any infection that
appears to have the symptoms of this ... cultured" and tested, said
Debbi Hartman, spokeswoman for Rochester Community Schools.
More than 90,000 life-threatening illnesses and nearly 19,000
deaths are estimated to occur annually after an MRSA infection,
according to a report released this week by doctors at the U.S. Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention. The study, published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association, also found that nearly 85% of
MRSA cases were connected to health care settings.
But, health officials say, mild cases of MRSA are diagnosed all the
time.
Michigan has had 222 outbreaks of the MRSA strain since the start of
2003, said T.J. Bucholz, spokesman for the Michigan Department of
Community Health. Each outbreak represents several cases.
Staph bacteria can be found on a quarter of the population, said Carol
Chenoweth, a University of Michigan physician specializing in infectious
diseases. The bacteria can enter the body through open wounds or be
spread through contact with bodily fluids, which can lead to infections,
she said.
The problem with the MRSA strain is that it does not respond to
penicillin or other antibiotics, though other drugs are used to treat
it.
It lurks everywhere, particularly in moist, warm places where people are
in close quarters, such as locker rooms and hospitals. It also can live
on sweaty athletic gear, jerseys, used towels and doorknobs. It even
lives on people in places such as noses and armpits, said Jeff Hageman, a
CDC epidemiologist.
Unlike with diseases such as measles and rabies, doctors are not required
to report each individual case of MRSA to state and county health
officials, only clusters of cases.
Medical directors of Macomb and Wayne counties said there have been no
clusters of MRSA there this year.
There are commonsense things people can do to prevent the spread of
staph infections, Chenoweth said, including "not sharing items that
are contaminated, such as ... towels and razors."
Washing hands frequently and keeping open wounds cleaned and bandaged
are also measures that help stem the spread of staph infections.
Michigan State University's infectious diseases clinic sees several dozen
cases a year, said Daniel Havlichek, professor of medicine and
microbiology.
At Oakland University, specially treated rubberized flooring has been put
in locker rooms and in the training room where athletes' injuries are
treated, because of concern over communicable diseases, said Tom Ford,
the university's athletic trainer. Dispensers with treated wipes have
been placed in workout rooms so athletes can wipe down machines, he
said.
MRSA isn't limited to hospitals and locker rooms. Oakland County
Sheriff's Deputy Gordon Belanger said he has contracted MRSA infections
multiple times while working at the county jail.
Now, he's suing Sheriff Michael Bouchard. Belanger's attorney,
Christopher Trainor, filed a lawsuit in federal court Tuesday and said he
plans to file a suit on behalf of another deputy.
Belanger, 55, said he was first diagnosed in November 2005, just weeks
after a sewage backup flooded part of the jail, soaking carpets. He said
the carpets were cleaned, but not replaced for weeks.
Belanger, who still works at the jail, said conditions are deplorable,
with inmates sleeping on dirty mattresses. Inmates leave the jail on a
daily basis with various infections, and often they're taken to the North
Oakland Medical Center for treatment, he said.
Undersheriff Michael McCabe called Belanger's suit "frivolous."
He said bottles of hand sanitizer are located throughout the facility and
deputies are given protective gloves. McCabe said that of the 20,000
inmates who have been booked in the jail this year, 58 have been
diagnosed with MRSA.
"We don't get to pick and choose who comes in the jail," McCabe
said. MRSA "is very prevalent. There's no way to prevent it. We just
try to manage it the best we can."
Contact Gina Damron at 248-351-3293 or
gdam-@freepress.com. Staff
writers Korie Wilkins, Robin Erb, Christina Hall and Ruby L. Bailey
contributed to this report.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071019/NEWS05/710190412
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