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E-mail StoryStaph infection kills boy
| Thursday, May 11 2006 10:05 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, May 11 2006 10:12 PM
An Oildale teenager died Tuesday of an infection from a common bacteria -- one that about 30 percent of us carry on our skin and in our noses.
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Corey Allan Wilson.
Keith Wilson, of Oildale, holds a photo of his son Corey Wilson,15, who died in the hospital of complications from MRSA, a staph bacteria.
The bacteria is usually contracted in hospitals, but most infections from it don't result in death, said Dr. Rachel Gorwitz, medical epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta.
The teen's parents believe he picked up the bacteria somewhere in his day-to-day life since he hadn't been in a hospital in months. However, local health officials call this an isolated case and say a public outbreak is unlikely.
Corey Allan Wilson, 15, was the picture of health until about a month ago, said Vickie Wilson, his mother. Toward the end of spring break, the North High School freshman started experiencing flulike symptoms, she said.
On April 20, Corey was taken to urgent care, she said.
"He was just pouring sweat," she said. "I had to carry him in."
Shortly after Corey arrived, the doctor rushed the young patient to Bakersfield Memorial Hospital, where he was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
The root bacteria -- staphylococcus aureus, or "staph" -- is on the skin and in the nose of many healthy people, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Web site. Between 25 percent and 30 percent of people carry the bacteria without having any problems or symptoms, the CDC said.
"Everybody has bacteria on their skin and bodies and noses," Gorwitz said. "It's normal for people to have bacteria."
But sometimes staph can cause an infection.
Staph is one of the most common causes of skin infections, like abscesses or boils, and can normally be treated with antibiotics, the CDC said.
Some staph can cause more serious problems, though, such as wound and bloodstream infections, the CDC said. It also is the most common cause of pneumonia.
Corey's strain of staph was more dire. MRSA is resistant to antibiotics like penicillin and amoxicillin. The strain found in the general community, outside hospitals, was first documented in the middle to late 1990s, Gorwitz said.
In Corey's case, it attacked and began eating away at his lungs, said Dr. Lorry Frankel, one of Corey's doctors and director of clinical care service at the Lucile Packard Children's Hospital at Stanford University in Palo Alto.
Shortly after arriving at Memorial Hospital, Corey was put into a drug-induced coma because his body was crashing so fast, Wilson said. He never regained consciousness.
"They were working on him so frantically that it was like he had died and they were trying to bring him back," said Keith Wilson, Corey's father.
Over the next three weeks, Corey was moved from Memorial to Children's Hospital Central California in Madera to Stanford's children's hospital.
Once at Stanford, he was put on a ventilator to help him breathe. The bacteria had eaten holes in his lungs, Frankel said.
"It got to the point where every breath was killing him," Vickie Wilson said.
Corey also had kidney failure and a brain aneurysm, Frankel said.
Corey died Tuesday at 9:25 a.m.
Staph is so common, that MRSA is not a reportable communicable disease in California, which means doctors don't have to alert public health officials of an infection, said Kirt Emery, assistant director of disease control at the Kern County Health Department. Regardless, he would have been alerted to an outbreak, and so far, he hasn't heard any reports, Emery said.
The best defense is good hygiene.
Clean wounds, don't touch other people's wounds and throw out used bandages, Emery said.
Hand-washing can also keep people from getting infected.
"It's one of our best public health defenses we have," he said.
Vickie Wilson doesn't know where Corey could have contracted the bacteria.
"There was just no reason for it," she said. "We have no idea why he was so unlucky."
The Wilson family is asking for the public's help for funeral arrangements. Donations can be made in Corey's name at Washington Mutual.
Guard against infection:
1. Clean your hands by washing thoroughly with soap and water or using a hand sanitizer.
2. Keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered with bandages until healed.
3. Avoid contact with other people’s wounds or bandages.
4. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.
Source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
How to help:
The Wilson family is asking for the public’s help in paying for funeral expenses.
Donations can be made in Corey’s name at Washington Mutual, account number: 1-309-295-4631.