Officials with the Leon County Health Department are actively investigating the unusually high number of staph infections. A Health Department representative told the Tallahassee Democrat that investigators are looking into the possibility that the Pain Institute may have received a contaminated batch of medicine, but the source of the staph bacteria has yet to be determined. There is no evidence that the clinic is to blame for the outbreak.

Patients began calling the Pain Institute of North Florida on March 14 with what seemed like viral symptoms. Cultures revealed that they had contracted staph infections, probably on or around March 12. The infections were not the drug resistant variety of staph known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, and can be treated with antibiotics.

The owner of the Pain Institute, Dr. George Arcos, informed County health officials of the apparent staph outbreak, and asked them to investigate. Patients of the Pain Institute of North Florida who visited the clinic between March 10 and March 21, 2008 have been notified, and Dr. Arcos has suspended pain procedures at the clinic while the investigation is being conducted. Patients who underwent treatment during that period who have not received a phone call should contact the Leon County Health Department at 850-606-8161.

Yomtov was chatting with coworkers and mentioned that he acquired an antibiotic-resistant strain of staph when he scraped his arms two years ago, he told Miami’s CBS 4. Before the day was over, Yomtov had been fired by a supervisor who erroneously believed that Yomtov must still be contagious. The infection was successfully treated by a medical professional two years ago, but Yomtov’s boss would hear none of it, insisting that MRSA is a new disease that wasn’t around years ago.

At the request of his employer, The Hollywood Telemarketing Company, Yomtov provided a note from an infectious disease specialist certifying that he was no longer infected with MRSA. However, his boss refused to accept the note from Yomtov’s hand, directing him to fax it to the company. No one from The Hollywood Telemarketing Company has spoken to the media.

Yomtov, who told CBS 4 his employer made him feel like “Typhoid Mary,” has filed a complaint with the Equal Opportunity Employment Commission.

via The Raw Story