Fergie's Tech Blog

Bacterium Tech: Infection Is Growing in Scope, Resistance

It all began with what looked like a spider bite on Eileen Moore's left thigh. Nothing to worry about, she figured.

Within 24 hours, the "bite" became a 6-inch welt with a bubble of pus that eventually ripened into a black wound. Over the next few months, scabs dotted her face. A hangnail caused her middle finger to bloat like a sausage. Her pierced ears oozed pus.

The cause of Moore's ordeal was a bacterium known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which in its most severe form can turn into a fatal flesh-destroying scourge.

For decades, the infections were found only in hospitals, where the constant use of different antibiotics, including the potent methicillin, made it resistant to many of the most powerful antibiotics.

posted by Fergie @ 2/26/2006 12:35:00 PM