Of lately, some concerns have been raised regarding recent infections surfers have been contracting in the Seaside area. Rumors of contaminated water and surfers hospitalized with staph and MRSA cases have left some folks surfing for answers and raising more questions. So what's going on here? I checked in with one Seaside affected surfer (foot pictured with lanced staph infection) and the local health and human services to find out more. Here's what I find out:
Currently, the health department has received very limited information regarding the recent infections (I was the first person to contact). This is in part due the the fact the these cases aren't necessarily "reportable" from an epidemiology perspective. Many doctors which see these cases do not culture the infections, so the type of staph infection (MRSA being an antibiotic- resistant strain and one of the worst) isn't reported to the health department. With limited information to link cases, it's extremely difficult to categorize this as an "outbreak", and at this point it's probably safest to say that this could have come from just about anywhere and is not an "epidemic" or "outbreak". If you or someone you know has had a recent infection, they themselves can report this to the health department and find out more information:
Clatsop County Health and Human Services 820 Exchange St, #100 Astoria, OR 97103 (503)325-8500. Additionally, attached below is a background fact sheet on staph and MRSA from the Hawaii Department of Health:
mrsa%5B1%5D.pdf
