Information taken from CDC and personal communications

Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or as it is called in the trade, MRSA

According to the Center for Disease Control, MRSA are bacteria, , that are “commonly carried on the skin or in the nose of healthy people. STAPH can be found on the skin of some healthy people without causing any illnesses. Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infection in the US and are a common cause of pneumonia and bloodstream infections.”

People who are infected with MRSA find themselves in a situation where they have an infection resistant to many antibiotics. Methicillin is an antibiotic, which in the past could knock out STAPH. At one time penicillin could knock out staph but had to make way for Methicillin because stronger antibiotics have to be used. We are worried that the progression of using so much antibiotic in our bodies might lead to a super STAPH that is resistant to all current antibiotic medicine. If this is something we need to know then our health agencies should educate us right away.

Southeastern Fisheries Association is concerned with more cases impacting commercial and recreational fishermen. Many of these infection incidents led to hospitalization where strong antibiotics were administered through intravenously.

We are so concerned that I wrote Governor Bush and asked for his help in finding our what is going on. The governor immediately contacted the Florida Health Department who are already working on this situation.

Southeastern Fisheries Association is in the process of developing a database to determine the number of MRSA cases in Florida impacting fishermen and the severity of each MRSA illness. From what we have been able to find out there are no specific statistics on MRSA incidents but the CDC estimates as many as 100,000 persons are hospitalized each year with MRSA infections.

Southeastern Fisheries Association will be posting its findings on its website so if you have been infected within recent time, please let us know by emailing your information to Bobfsh@aol.com and put the word Staph or Marsa in the subject line. You will be on our email list for updates.

Our website is www.southeasternfish.org

Thank you,

Bob Jones
Executive Director