Staph puts Modesto girl, 12, in hospital

Somerset student critical; Downey, Beyer see cases of drug-resistant bacteria

By KEN CARLSON
kcarlson@modbee.com

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A 12-year-old Somerset Middle School student with a staph infection is fighting for her life in a Sacramento hospital.

The Modesto girl was in critical condition Tuesday at Sutter Medical Center, a hospital spokesman said.

It is the most serious known case of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus infection among the cases reported at schools in Stanislaus County this fall.

Also Tuesday, officials notified parents of students at Downey and Beyer high schools in Modesto that a student at each school was diagnosed with MRSA infection.

Phil Alfano, Downey's principal, said the student from that campus was at home, and he understood that the girl was doing well. No details were available on the Beyer case. Beyer parents received an automated phone announcement from the school, which directed them to MRSA information on the school's Web site.

A parent of the Downey student re- ported the case to school officials Monday, Alfano said.

Letters were sent to Downey High parents Tuesday, advising them of the warning signs of staph infection and stating that custodial staff members were cleaning bathrooms, weight rooms, locker rooms and other areas that can foster MRSA infection.

Last month, Hughson High School officials said six students came down with suspected MRSA skin infections. The students responded well to treatment, officials said.

The skin infections are a growing health concern because the bacteria is resistant to some antibiotics. Resistant staph infections once were confined to hospital settings, but a form of MRSA has spread in the nation in recent years, especially in places where people are in close contact, health officials said.

A number of cases of MRSA have been reported at schools in California this year.

Early last week, school officials notified parents that a Somerset student had contracted MRSA. The girl's parents informed the school about her illness. Officials did not disclose that she was severely ill.

"There are federal regulations about sharing any health information about a child," said Martha Gausman, assistant superintendent of curriculum for Sylvan Union School District. She oversees school nurses.

"We have been in contact with the health department, and the health department assured us no students were in danger from the MRSA case," she said.

About two weeks ago, the girl, complaining of knee pain, was taken to a Modesto hospital. From there, she was airlifted to the Sacramento medical center. The family declined to comment Tuesday. The Bee is not revealing the girl's name.

Cases of antibiotic-resistant staph are seen so often by health care providers across the country that some experts are calling it an epidemic. Invasive staph infections, which destroy flesh and enter the bloodstream, are probably killing more people in the United States each year than AIDS, according to an editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Recently, schools in Stanislaus County distributed literature to parents about staph and precautions to take for preventing infection. Because most of the skin infections can be stopped with timely treatment, parents have been advised to seek immediate medical attention if their child has a skin infection.

According to the letter to Downey parents, the warning signs include a skin lesion with unusual or increasing pain or warmth, pus, hardness, and increasing swelling or redness. Other signs are red streaks around the wound, fever, chills and other flulike symptoms.