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| Another inmate has staph at Fla. Jail |
| By Herald Tribune |
| Published: 08/25/2003 |
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A second Fla. inmate has tested positive for staph infection at the Manatee County, Fla., Jail, the sheriff's office said. Meanwhile, inmates who work outside the prison, such as on road gangs, returned to their duties Monday, jail officials said. Although only two of about 1,000 inmates have tested positive, jail spokesman Randy Warren said, 83 other inmates were still quarantined and being watched for signs of infection. Any inmate who showed signs of possible infection had been isolated in one of the jail's 'pods' and put on a 10-day course of antibiotics, Warren said. Prisoners are quarantined if they have skin irritations, red marks, or anything that looks like a bug bite, Warren said. Medical personnel from Prison Health Services, the jail's contracted health service provider, have been testing the quarantined inmates for staph if they believe them to be at risk of infection, Warren said. Staphylococcus aureus is a bacterium carried on the skin and in the noses of healthy people. Staph is present in the noses of 25 to 30 percent of the general population, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and those people generally suffer no ill effects. Practicing good hygiene is the best way of preventing an infection. Staph can sometimes cause minor skin infections when it gets into cuts and abrasions, and can be treated with antibiotics. Untreated, it can lead to boils or more serious illnesses such as pneumonia and blood infections. 'We feel real good that the antibiotics are working,' Warren said. 'We're getting this under control. Actually, I would say we have this under control.' Antibiotic-resistant staph infections, seen until recently mainly in health care facilities, have popped up in prisons in at least seven states, according to news reports. The Los Angeles County jail had 928 inmates who tested positive for antibiotic-resistant staph in 2002. Test results indicate that the Manatee County jail's staph infection is not resistant to antibiotics, Warren said. |
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