Staph infections spread through Ozarks

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Cammy Melton's arms are covered in red, nickel-sized blotches. A deep abscess on the back of her leg makes it painful to walk. She hasn't left the house in weeks.

The Springfield woman is among a growing number of southwest Missouri residents stricken with a drug-resistant staph infection. No data is being collected here on community-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or CA-MRSA, as Melton's symptoms are called, but a noticeable increase in those infected has Ozarks health officials on alert.

"It's really driving me crazy," said Melton, who has been ailing since October. "It's painful and it's draining."

CA-MRSA is transmitted through a break in the skin and spread from person to person -- through shared razors, towels or unclean athletic equipment, for example. It can cause skin infections, boils or abscesses in otherwise healthy people, and experts say 25 percent of cases can require hospitalization.

Some blame the rise in more lethal staph strains on years of overuse and inappropriate use of antibiotics.

Eddie Hedrick, the Missouri Department of Health's emerging infections coordinator, said doctors are advised against needless use of antibiotics.

"We try to educate doctors when they see a spider-bite-like injury, if they put the person on antibiotics, make sure they know what they've got," he said.

Meanwhile, the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention has given $1 million in grants to study the biology of MRSA.

Beginning last July, Missouri hospitals were required to report hospital-acquired MRSA and vancomycin-resistant staph cases to the state health department. But cases that spread through communities are not being tracked, even as doctors say the illness is becoming common.

Dr. Donald Maples of Bolivar said he never saw a case in his first 20 years in medicine. But not anymore.

"It sounds horrible," he said, "but now you're not surprised when you see it."