Student's Death Likely Caused by "Super Bug": Another MRSA Victim

[photo:healthline]
by Mondoreb & Little Baby Ginn

Is MRSA officially something that Americans should put on their list of worries? News of a child dying in Brooklyn from the "Super Bug" is sure to put school boards across the country on alert.

More from CNN:

A middle school student from Brooklyn died Thursday, probably from the staph infection MRSA, according to the New York City Health Department.

The student was in seventh grade at IS-211 in Canarsie.

"The infection was the probable cause," the Heath Department said in a statement. "We have no reason to believe that other children or school employees are at increased risk of staph infection."

At least six students on Long Island have recently been diagnosed with MRSA, according to The Associated Press.

MRSA is short for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and is responsible for more deaths in the United States each year than AIDS, according to new data.

More schoolchildren in the area have the disease. More from the NY Post:

Such infections gained attention following the death this month of a Virginia high school senior who was diagnosed with it. The city Health Department has proposed mandatory reporting of the illness so it can track the number of cases.

At least six students on Long Island have recently been diagnosed with M-R-S-A.

Although MRSA can be defeated by keeping the hands clean with soap and water, people are worried. The "Super Bug" story started out a few weeks ago with reports of the number of patients dying in the United Kingdom. The story has since spread to the USA as more have become aware of it. It's a story that doesn't appear to be going away soon.




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Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

May Exceed AIDS Death TollSuper Bug Now in U.S. 90,000 Potential Victims

[photo:CNN]
Estimated to Kill More Than AIDS

by Mondoreb

Last week, Death by 1000 Papercuts reported on a "super bug" that's been killing hospital patients in the U.K. Now, news of the Super Bug's spread to the U.S.

From CNN:

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 Association, which published the study.

As we observed last week, Super Bug's not as catchy as the "brain-eating microbes" found in the Arizona lake last month, but it's starting to get our attention.



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