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" Staph is often seen in association with flu, " Gerberding said. " When

drug-resistant staph infection is common in a community, it's not

surprising it will be the kind of staph you see in people who get the flu.

It's not a surprise, but it adds additional complexity to the treatment. "

News to me.

Sheri

>http://aolsvc.health.webmd.aol.com/content/article/78/95730.htm

Drug-Resistant Bug Complicates Flu

Bad Staph, Vaccine Shortage Add to Flu Worries

By DeNoon

WebMD Medical News Reviewed By , MD

on Tuesday, December 09, 2003

Dec. 9, 2003 -- It's by no means the worst flu season ever, but it's a bad

one. And this year the flu has an evil ally -- drug-resistant staph

infection.

The Fujian flu is sweeping the nation. It differs only slightly from the

Panama flu we've seen in previous years. But that difference may mean less

protection from flu vaccine and -- maybe -- more severe illness.

" There are reports of children with serious flu and a number of deaths, "

said CDC Director Gerberding, MD, MPH, at a news conference. " That is

very sad and something we are evaluating very carefully to see if there is

anything about this particular flu strain that is harder for children.

There are serious flu illnesses and deaths every year in kids. And when

severe flu occurs, it usually causes pneumonia. But a common cause of more

severe disease is bacterial infection. Some kids who have died have had

complicating bacterial infections. "

All by itself, flu can cause life-threatening pneumonia. But flu makes it

hard for the lungs to fight off other germs. And this year, there's a very

scary germ out there. It's called community-acquired multi-drug resistant

Staphylococcus aureus or CA-MRSA.

Drug-Resistant Staph

Plain MRSA isn't new. It's been plaguing hospitals for decades. It's

resistant to methicillin, an antibiotic frequently used to treat staph

infections -- and to the entire class of drugs it represents. Now a new

form of the bug is loose in the land.

The good news is that CA-MRSA still can be treated with other antibiotics.

The bad news is that it seems to be more virulent and to spread more

quickly than the old MRSA -- although that's still under investigation. But

the bug certainly is popping up all over the U.S., CDC epidemiologist Jeff

Hageman told WebMD in a recent interview.

" We've seen it in multiple geographic regions, " Hageman said. " We are

receiving increasing numbers of reports. It's something we hadn't heard

about before three or four years ago. It is emerging. "

Between 1997 and 1999, the bug killed four children in Minnesota and North

Dakota. Late last year, an outbreak among gay men in California alarmed

infectious disease expert Edwin D. Charlebois (pronounced shar-leh-BWAH),

PhD, MPH, and colleagues at the University of California, San Francisco.

" It's here and if it's getting more aggressive, that is a concern, "

Charlebois recently told WebMD. " This bacteria gets under the skin and

starts munching away and basically causes abscesses. They either have to be

surgically drained or treated with antibiotics different than those we

usually use. It is pretty scary. "

Staph and strep infections commonly complicate the flu. Usually, it's easy

to kill these bugs with antibiotics. But the drugs that work against

everyday staph don't necessarily kill the MRSA.

" Staph is often seen in association with flu, " Gerberding said. " When

drug-resistant staph infection is common in a community, it's not

surprising it will be the kind of staph you see in people who get the flu.

It's not a surprise, but it adds additional complexity to the treatment. "

Flu Marches On, Vaccine Supplies Drying Up

Thirteen U.S. states now report " widespread " flu epidemics. That number is

sure to go up, Gerberding says. Every state but Massachusetts now reports

cases. Since reports lag by a week, Gerberding says it's a pretty good bet

that every state soon will be hit. And the Fujian flu is what scientists

call an H3N2 Type A flu -- which often causes more severe disease than

other strains.

" With the number of states affected this early in the flu season, it will

not surprise us if we have more cases this year than last year, " Gerberding

says. " And the H3N2 type A influenza has traditionally been associated with

more disease and more hospitalizations. "

Parents who ignored earlier pleas to vaccinate their kids are rushing to

their doctors. Many now find that flu supplies are drying up. Because of

low demand, flu manufacturers threw away some 12 million doses of vaccine

last year. This year, to protect against financial losses, they made less.

The CDC is asking healthy people at low risk of flu complications to forgo

vaccination this year if they haven't already had a flu shot. Those who

should get the vaccine are kids age 6 months to 23 months, people with

chronic diseases such as diabetes or asthma, people over 65, the household

contacts of people in these groups, and health-care workers.

Gerberding said it makes sense to focus on giving the remaining vaccine to

little children.

" We wish we didn't have these caveats, but we have a gap between what we

wish we had and what we have, " she said. " Contact you own doctor and

determine if you need the vaccine. If your doctor doesn't have it, there

are options. Contact your local health services. You have to be persistent.

But some people who would like the flu vaccine this year may not be able to

get it. "

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SOURCES: CDC, Influenza Summary Update: Week Ending November 29, 2003 --

Week 48. CDC news conference, Dec. 9, 2003. Jeff Hageman, epidemiology

section, CDC, Atlanta. Edwin D. Charlebois, PhD, MPH, director, center for

excellence in soft tissue infections, University of California, San

Francisco.

© 2003 WebMD Inc. All rights reserved.

--------------------------------------------------------

Sheri Nakken, R.N., MA, Classical Homeopath

Vaccination Information & Choice Network, Nevada City CA & Wales UK

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OR LEGAL ADVICE. THE

DECISION TO VACCINATE IS YOURS AND YOURS ALONE.

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