EDITOR'S CORNER

Although our health focus finished up last month, we had to include one more piece on the topic because it was too important to skip. At a recent conference, health professionals discussed the possible connection between MRSA and HIV. While the scholars and medical gurus try to sort out fact from fiction, the conference produced thought-provoking theories along with common sense procedures that should be followed in an effort to prevent and maintain MRSA in facilities.
Jim, Corrections.com editor

FEATURED STORY

Strange bedfellows

By Ann Coppola

A deadly connection

The medical community will be the first to say that when it comes to the correctional population, “MRSA is here to stay.” Methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) infections are easily transmitted in crowded, confined spaces, making prisons and jails ground-zero for the bug. Fortunately, there is a growing body of research on treatment best practices. There also is an emerging theory that points to an entirely new risk factor for the antibiotic-resistant skin infections.

At a recent Albany Medical College educational satellite videoconference, experts in correctional medicine presented evidence linking the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to MRSA. MRSA is currently identified in a variety of populations, including prison and jail inmates, athletic teams, day care centers, intravenous drug users, and indigenous populations. The at-risk population of increasing interest to health care providers is those with HIV/AIDS.

“HIV has been shown to be an independent risk factor for MRSA,” Jason Farley said during the presentation. Farley, an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, is a nurse practitioner who treats HIV patients. Read this week's full story.

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READER FEEDBACK

Regarding Hats off to county corrections
I also applaud this article. I work in a city police lockup. We are regarded even lower than the county COs.

I don't know how many times we have been told by arresting officers who are in our facility, "I don't take directions from civilians," or "You're just a detention officer."

What's funny is that these are the same individuals who when they're in the facility for a while and see what we do on a daily or nightly basis, say "I could never do your job!"

You know what...they're right! Keep up the great work and thanks for standing up for us!
GR, Michigan

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