10 R E G I S T E R E D N U R S E W W W . C A L N U R S E S . O R G A U G U S T 2 0 0 6
R oya l m a r i n e r i c h a r d c a m p b e l l - s m i t h , a
buffed 18-year-old, was completing his basic training in
Devon, England when he got a few scratches on his leg. Two
days later, he was dead.
Gloria Bonaffini checked into a Bridgeport, Conn. hospi-
tal for a routine bypass operation. Doctors told her husband
she would be out in a week. She stayed 448 days, finally
dying of an acute infection she caught during her surgery.
Three children—ages 15 months, nine months, and 17
months—were admitted to a Chicago-area hospital with res-
piratory problems. They were all dead of toxic shock within a
week.
In all three cases, the killer was the same: methicillin-
resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, a drug-resistant
bacterium that first appeared in the early '90s. Since then it
has seared a lethal path through hospitals, nursing homes,
and started appearing in day care centers, prisons, and gym-
nasiums. In 1974, only two percent of Staphylococcus infec-
tions were methicillin-resistant. By 1995, 22 percent were
classified MRSA. Last year it was 60 percent. Five players
from the Washington Redskins football team even caught it
from their training facilities during the 2004 and 2005 season.
The New
Germ
Warfare
BY CONN HALLINAN AND CARL BLOICE
Antibiotic misuse and hospital practices to
boost profits are spreading ever-deadly bacteria
into our communities. But simple hygiene and
better staffing may be the best weapon yet.
