Resistant staph, once confined to hospitals, now a threat to public A nasty type of drug-resistant bacteria that has plagued hospitals for decades is turning up in Washington's general population, killing at least one person this summer and causing a rash of stubborn skin infections. Doctors across the state are reporting a growing number of patients with abscesses and boils that don't respond to common antibiotics. The July death of a previously healthy, 19-year-old King County man is particularly worrisome, health officials say. "It sent a bit of a shock wave through everybody," said Monica Raymond, coordinator for the Tacoma/Pierce County Health Department's task force on drug-resistant germs. The young man's infection started with an abscess on his leg, but quickly spread to his bloodstream and lungs. "What's scary is that it wasn't just resistant, it was more invasive and made him sicker than it really should have," Raymond said. The bug responsible for the recent problems, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (pronounced "mersa"), is a common cause of hospital infections. Like ordinary staph bugs, MRSA lives on the skin and can invade wounds, causing infections that range from minor to deadly. Unlike ordinary staph, it can't be killed by methicillin and other front-line antibiotics. "Staph is one of the most dangerous bacteria in general," said Dr. Jeff Duchin, infectious-disease chief for Public Health — Seattle & King County. "MRSA is making a bad bug more challenging to deal with." --------
