YAHOO: Perilous Bug Is Creeping Onto the Streets [View All]

[BigBearJohn]

Perilous Bug Is Creeping Onto the Streets

Drug-resistant staph infections, once largely confined to hospitals, are far more common in the general population than previously thought, according to a study published today in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The latest study, conducted by researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and several other institutions, confirmed that the organism was now circulating widely in the general population.

In previous research, the drug-resistant strain was found to cause painful skin lesions that resembled infected spider bites, a deadly lung disease known as necrotizing pneumonia, and toxic-shock syndrome — a type of blood poisoning that can be fatal.


But doctors outside of hospitals typically don't look for drug-resistant staph, and therefore don't order lab tests to verify the strain. Instead, they routinely prescribe ineffective antibiotics, sometimes leading to more severe illnesses and even deaths.

Link: http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=2026&ncid=2026&e=5&u=/latimests/20050407/ts_latimes/perilousbugiscreepingontothestreets