A public school teacher in suburban Washington D.C. died last weekend of complications from a form of staph infection, the latest U.S. fatality from the dreaded, drug-resistant disease. Nearly 90,000 people become ill each year from complications of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, infections. According to one estimate, more than 18,000 Americans die of the disease annually, which is a mortality rate slightly higher than U.S. deaths from AIDS. Doctors are not required to report MRSA cases to state health authorities. Dozens of cases of the infection have been reported in the metropolitan Washington area, but precise figures are not available. Herbert Hoover Middle School Principal Billie-Jean Bensen announced the death of teacher Merry King in a letter sent to parents and staff members Monday. The school is planning to sanitize King’s classroom as a infection protection precaution. The teacher had been absent from the school since Nov. 30 and had been hospitalized since early last week. Her family said she died Sunday of complications of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

By Gene Koprowski, Editor-in-Chief