Drug-resistant staph infection has infiltrated three Fresno stations.
By Vanessa Colón
The Fresno Bee
FRESNO, Calif. — A type of drug-resistant staph infection has become so common in prisons and fire and police stations that some union officials want it classed as a work-related hazard. Among the latest victims are up to 13 firefighters at three Fresno stations.
Fresno County health officials say they’ve been working with the Fire Department to contain the outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
Thirteen Fresno firefighters have filed workers’ compensation claims over the infections, asking the city to pick up their medical bills, said Jerry Smith, vice president of Fresno Fire Fighters Local 753.
The most recent case was two months ago, Smith said.
Terry Bond, Fresno’s city personnel services director, said only four firefighters tested positive for the bacteria. Infections in the others had cleared up by the time they were tested, or were found to be the result of something else, Bond said.
The infected employees are from Station 1 at Olive and Jackson avenues, Station 7 on South Cherry Avenue near Jensen Avenue and Station 11 on North Fresno Street near Barstow Avenue.
“It’s not an epidemic,” said Fire Chief Randy Bruegman. “I’m concerned about it. We are daily coming into contact with people on the street. I’m worried about bringing all kinds of things to the firehouse.”
Staph infections have become an increasing problem for firefighters, police officers, prison inmates and others in the state. Dozens of Folsom Prison employees and inmates, for example, were infected with the bacteria this year.
The bacteria can flourish in settings where people live in close quarters, such as jails or prisons, or practice poor hygiene.
Firefighters and law enforcement officers may be more at risk through contact with the homeless, for example.
In 2005, for example, the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services documented 20 skin infections among Los Angeles city firefighters working on Skid Row, where the homeless and substance abusers gather.
“We’ve seen too many cases. It’s developed to the point that firefighters, correctional officers and police officers have banded together to support legislation to address this,” said Afrack Vargas, legislative advocate at the California State Firefighters’ Association in Sacramento. His group wants MRSA infections treated as a workplace injury for firefighters and law enforcement officers.
The legislation, which has stalled in the Assembly Appropriations Committee, has drawn support from police and fire associations and opposition from cities and counties.
Vargas said his association began to notice a rise in staph infections in 2005.
“While firefighters and medics are using protective equipment, they are always at risk for contracting disease,” Vargas said.
Staph can be found on the skin or in the noses of 25% to 30% of the public -- and in most cases, it doesn’t trigger an infection, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, it is one of the most common causes of skin infections, which can appear as a pimple or a boil. In severe cases, it can cause pneumonia or infections of the bloodstream or surgical wounds.
Most skin infections caused by the drug-resistant strain of staph can be treated, either by lancing and draining the boil, or by antibiotics, the CDC says.
Dr. Edward Moreno, Fresno County’s health officer, said his department has not heard of other staph outbreaks at other police or fire agencies, but he hears from physicians that county residents are being infected. Gyms are just one of the places where people can come in contact with the bacteria.
Moreno speculates that the bacteria, which was once limited largely to health facilities, have spread in the community because of growing resistance to antibiotics.
The first Fresno firefighter affected initially didn’t realize what it was, fire officials said. The infection was treated as a spider bite in August 2004.
Months later, a second firefighter was infected with MRSA.
After a physician diagnosed the second case, the Fire Department notified its staff. The first victim was then told he too probably was infected, fire officials said.
The department began enforcing a cleaning policy, urging staff to wash their hands, clean equipment and use disinfectant swipes on objects they touch, Bruegman said.
Moreno said his Health Department staff visited the firehouses to educate workers about the bacteria and how to prevent its spread.
In July, a hygienist examined the three affected fire stations and found poor hygiene in the weightlifting area, the television remote control and the kitchen cabinet doors, fire officials said. The Fire Department implemented a new cleaning policy based on the hygienist’s recommendations, Fire Department spokesman Ken Shockley said.
Smith, the firefighter union representative, said the department is making efforts to contain the outbreak, but added that “it’s not under control.”
Smith said it’s unknown whether firefighters have been infected at the city’s 20 other stations.
Smith said employees whose skin infections were treated as spider bites had their workers’ compensation claims approved, but those who tested positive for the bacteria or a staph infection were denied.
“Our members want their medical bills paid and sick time reimbursed as on-the-job injury,” Smith said.
Smith said that if the skin infections were treated as a work-related ailment, workers’ compensation insurance would pick up the medical costs, instead of leaving firefighters to pay part of the cost. In addition, it would reduce the kinds of costs that drive up medical insurance rates for firefighters, he said.
Bond, the city’s personnel services director, said the city paid $11,747 in medical bills for some of the 13 people who filed claims.
Other claims were denied because anyone can be exposed to the bacteria and the firefighters couldn’t prove they were infected at the firehouses.
Smith said the claims shouldn’t have been denied because they are all job-related.
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