'Superbug' Kin Infects Athletes, Kids

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A50116-2004Jul14.html

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'Superbug' Kin Infects Athletes, Kids

Reuters

A drug-resistant " superbug " found in hospitals has a close cousin that is

affecting athletes, prisoners and small children in growing numbers across

the United States, disease experts said yesterday.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus or MRSA can become fatal if not

treated with the right antibiotics, said B. Jernigan of the Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention.

" MRSA is showing up in places it had never been seen before -- as a

predominant cause of skin disease among children in some regions of the

country, as clusters of abscesses among sports participants, as the most

common cause of skin infections among inmates in some jails, and among

military recruits and, rarely, as a severe and sometimes fatal lung or

bloodstream infection in previously healthy people, " Jernigan told

reporters.

Most commonly it takes the form of an abscess or boil, and doctors routinely

try to treat it with penicillin-based antibiotics, Jernigan said. These will

not work.

In hospitals, MRSA resists almost everything but an intravenous antibiotic

called vancomycin. But community-acquired MRSA can be treated with

antibiotics including doxycycline and co-trimoxazole, sold under the brand

name Bactrim.

© 2004 The Washington Post Company