Spreading Like Wild Fire

If you did not think an epidemic could take place in the United States, you better check again. The drug-resistant staph germ is spreading across the country. While many might not know exactly know what staph infection is, only one fact is needed to explain the severity of this deadly infection. More people die every year from this germ than AIDS. This statistic is very disturbing. "This is a significant public health problem. We should be worried," warned Scott Fridlkin, who works for The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention studying epidemics.

Staph infections if caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA can usually be treated with antibiotics. But recently, several stands have not responded to the antibiotics. One example was in VA, where a 17 year old boy died from MRSA. School officials shut down all the schools in the county for cleaning to prevent any more children from dying. The infection took over his lungs, kidneys, and the muscle surrounding his heart.

Last year alone 988 people died from MRSA in just nine states. There are over 94,000 cases each year in the United States and over 18000 die from the infection. For those that survive the infection, permanent hearing loss is common.

The last major epidemic was all the back in 1918 during WWI with the spread of Spanish Influenza. Over 500,000 Americans were killed from the disease in the United States alone. Unlike many other epidemics, this disease attacked the young and healthy, and became worse in the summer and fall months. Many came down with the symptoms one day, and were dead the next. It is believed that in parts of Alaska entire towns were wiped out from the disease.