Germ Laden Schools and Gyms Face new Superbug Threat
Pastor Dale Morgan
Germ Laden Schools and Gyms Face new Superbug Threat*
By Richard Gray
Last Updated: 11:00AM BST 07/06/2008
Schools and gyms are to be placed on alert over deadly flesh eating
bacteria that can overpower victims' immune systems.
Health officials are drawing up guidelines to spell out the threat posed
by strains of the MRSA superbug and a related bug MSSA.
They warn that these bacteria produce a poison called Panton-Valentine
leukocidin, or PVL, and thrive in schools, nurseries and gym changing rooms.
Most victims are infected through cuts, grazes and wounds where the bugs
cause painful boils up to four inches across that can lead to blood
poisoning and potentially fatal pneumonia.
PVL-producing bacteria are thought to infect around 500 people a year in
the UK.
In 2004 Royal Marine Richard Campbell, 18, was infected after grazing
his leg while running before dying two days later.
The guidance, which is being issued by the Department of Health and the
Health Protection Agency, will advice schools on hygiene and how best to
deal with infected children.
Gym users will also be told to wipe equipment before use, to sit on a
towel when in a sauna and to avoid sharing towels.
Signs of infection include flu-like aches and chills before causing
painful boils and abscesses. Most cases can be treated with
anti-biotics, the bacteria are increasingly resistant to treatment.
Professor Mark Enright, a microbiologist at Imperial College London,
said: "We have got enough problems with the MRSA in our hospitals
without something that is even better at spreading between people, which
these strains are.
"If we have a lot of cases turning up in hospitals, it will be too late.
If we can do something to prevent that, it will be fantastic."
The PVL toxin attacks and kills the body's white cells which are
normally responsible for fighting infections, allowing the bacteria to
cause harmful infections.
Babies and children are particularly vulnerable to the bacteria. Unlike
ordinary MRSA, which is commonly found in hospitals where it targets the
elderly or severely ill, PVL-producing strains are more common among
young healthy people.
Dr Ian Gould, an MRSA expert at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary, added: "It is
an outbreak waiting to happen."