-
Apr 25, 2008 4:07 pm US/Eastern
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Drug-Resistant Bacteria, Flu Deadly Combo For Kids
BOSTON (WBZ) ―
There's a disturbing trend among children simultaneously infected with the flu and an aggressive drug-resistant bacterium and it appears to be a deadly combination.
Staph aureus is a bacterium that normally lives on our skin and in our noses, but can also cause disease like skin infections and pneumonia.
MRSA, or Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus, is a form of the bacterium that has become resistant to many antibiotics and is notoriously difficult to treat.
Health officials in Massachusetts have now linked two of the four recent flu-related deaths in kids to MRSA. Nationally, of the 74 children known to have died from the flu in 2006 to 2007, 22 of them also had staph infections, most of those, MRSA.
It's not clear how the two infections interact, but experts speculate that the flu virus causes changes in the airways that allows MRSA to invade the body.
There are some steps parents can take to help prevent their children from getting sick. It's going to be recommended that all children between 6 months and 18 years of age get a flu shot next season to help prevent or at least limit the severity of the illness.
MRSA is spread by direct contact, so good hygiene is the best defense. Parents should wash their children's hands frequently and cover cuts and scrapes with a clean bandage. Kids should also be discouraged from sharing personal items with other children like towels and gym clothes.
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)