Group A Streptococcus

A 35-year-old Santa Barbara triathlete stricken with a rare and virulent streptococcus infection--which has become notorious as the "flesh-eating" bacteria--was better Thursday afternoon, but remained in critical condition at the Sherman Oaks Hospital burn center.

An outbreak of strep throat resistant to a common antibiotic could be considered a wake-up call that some drugs may fail when they're needed. In monitoring 100 children at a Pittsburgh school last year, Dr. Judith M. Martin found 46 children with strains resistant to erythromycin, one of the most frequently used drugs for strep. Although some children never became ill, others had to be treated with different antibiotics.

An outbreak of strep throat resistant to a common antibiotic could be considered a wake-up call that some drugs may fail when they're needed. In monitoring 100 children at a Pittsburgh school last year, Dr. Judith M. Martin found 46 children with strains resistant to erythromycin, one of the most frequently used drugs for strep. Although some children never became ill, others had to be treated with different antibiotics.

One year after coming within a bicycle spoke's width of losing his athletic career--and his life--to so-called flesh-eating bacteria, triathlete Bernie Donner chose an appropriate vehicle to carry him back 106 miles to the Sherman Oaks hospital that saved him: a bicycle. Donner, whose wife, Laura, followed him in a car on the eight-hour ride from his Santa Barbara home to the burn center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, said his motive was twofold.

Seattle health officials have warned doctors not to prescribe ibuprofen and similar drugs to children with chickenpox because of a possible link to group A streptococcus, often mistakenly called flesh-eating bacteria. Officials with the Seattle-King County Health Department said late Thursday that they plan to investigate the possible link after looking into records of 12 children with chickenpox who developed the disease during the past year.

Triathlete Bernard Donner underwent surgery Friday morning to save his left leg from the ravages of "flesh-eating bacteria," which apparently entered his body through a shaving cut as he bicycled near his Santa Barbara home Sunday. Donner remained in critical condition, but it is encouraging that the streptococcus infection has not spread beyond the leg, said Dr. A. Richard Grossman, medical director of the Sherman Oaks Hospital burn center. Grossman said he and Dr.

Although the so-called flesh-eating bacteria that killed two Southern Californians within a week has provoked widespread concern, the actual risk from it is quite small, experts said Friday. No more than 500 of the 250 million people in the United States die of the disease each year, making the risk of death a minuscule 0.2 per 100,000.

An investigation in Finland has documented a significant increase in resistance to the antibiotic erythromycin by the type of bacteria that caused the sudden death of Muppets creator Jim Henson. The findings, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, may mean that doctors are losing a powerful weapon in the fight against "group A streptococcus," which can cause pharyngitis, rheumatic fever, scarlet fever, wound infections, kidney disease and a host of other serious illnesses.

One year after coming within a bicycle spoke's width of losing his athletic career--and his life--to so-called flesh-eating bacteria, triathlete Bernie Donner chose an appropriate vehicle to carry him back 106 miles to the Sherman Oaks hospital that saved him: a bicycle. Donner, whose wife, Laura, followed him in a car on the eight-hour ride from his Santa Barbara home to the burn center at Sherman Oaks Hospital, said his motive was twofold.

A South Bay man whose body was attacked by a rare "flesh-eating bacteria" Thursday became the second person to die from the ailment in Southern California in less than a week. The man, who arrived at Torrance Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, died of a fast-acting strain of Group A streptococcus infection known as "necrotizing fasciitis," hospital spokeswoman Laurie Lundberg said. The virulent infection captured public attention this year after it was linked to a series of deaths in Great Britain.

Complications from a fast-spreading bacterial infection claimed the life Thursday of an Agoura man, who was transferred to a Thousand Oaks hospital for specialized treatment. The virulent strep infection, known to the public as "flesh-eating" bacteria, also led to the death last November of Ventura County Community College District Chancellor Thomas G. Lakin.

Seattle health officials have warned doctors not to prescribe ibuprofen and similar drugs to children with chickenpox because of a possible link to group A streptococcus, often mistakenly called flesh-eating bacteria. Officials with the Seattle-King County Health Department said late Thursday that they plan to investigate the possible link after looking into records of 12 children with chickenpox who developed the disease during the past year.

Although the so-called flesh-eating bacteria that killed two Southern Californians within a week has provoked widespread concern, the actual risk from it is quite small, experts said Friday. No more than 500 of the 250 million people in the United States die of the disease each year, making the risk of death a minuscule 0.2 per 100,000.

A South Bay man whose body was attacked by a rare "flesh-eating bacteria" Thursday became the second person to die from the ailment in Southern California in less than a week. The man, who arrived at Torrance Memorial Hospital on Wednesday, died of a fast-acting strain of Group A streptococcus infection known as "necrotizing fasciitis," hospital spokeswoman Laurie Lundberg said. The virulent infection captured public attention this year after it was linked to a series of deaths in Great Britain.

A medical expert Monday questioned why doctors reportedly never exposed Ventura County's community college chief, dying from a "flesh-eating bacteria" infection, to one of medicine's primary defenses against the condition: pure oxygen treatments in a pressurized hyperbaric chamber. Thomas G.

What appears to be California's first death from the so-called flesh-eating bacteria was recorded Sunday here, where the popular chancellor of the Ventura County Community College District died a few days after complaining of a severe sore throat. Thomas G. Lakin, 50, died Sunday afternoon at Los Robles Regional Medical Center. Ventura County Senior Deputy Coroner Mitch Breese confirmed that the cause of death was necrotizing fasciitis, which has been dubbed flesh-eating bacteria.

For Bernard Donner, the whole thing began with an innocent-looking pimple on his thigh. What followed, however, was a bout with a deadly tissue-eating bacteria that spread up to his waist and down to his ankle, almost killing him. At a news conference Friday at the Sherman Oaks Hospital and Burn Center where Donner has been hospitalized, the 35-year-old Santa Barbara triathlete said that even as the disease began dissolving much of the flesh of his left leg, he had no idea what was going on.

A 35-year-old Santa Barbara triathlete stricken with a rare and virulent streptococcus infection that has become notorious as "flesh-eating" bacteria was improved Thursday afternoon, but remained in critical condition at Sherman Oaks Hospital's burn center. The infection is the same type that set off alarming news reports when a cluster of seven cases was reported in Gloucestershire, England, this spring, followed by a number of reports in the United States.

For Bernard Donner, the whole thing began with an innocent-looking pimple on his thigh. What followed, however, was a bout with a deadly tissue-eating bacteria that spread up to his waist and down to his ankle, almost killing him. At a news conference Friday at the Sherman Oaks Hospital and Burn Center where Donner has been hospitalized, the 35-year-old Santa Barbara triathlete said that even as the disease began dissolving much of the flesh of his left leg, he had no idea what was going on.

Triathlete Bernard Donner underwent surgery Friday morning to save his left leg from the ravages of the so-called "flesh-eating bacteria," which apparently entered his body through a shaving cut as he bicycled near his Santa Barbara home Sunday. Donner remained in critical condition, but his doctors are encouraged that the infection has not spread beyond the leg, said Dr. A. Richard Grossman, medical director of the Sherman Oaks Hospital burn center.