Staph Triggers Lethal Pneumonia in New Hampshire Preschooler Catherine Bentley
Posted on October 22, 2007
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4-year-old Catherine Ann Bentley of Salisbury, New Hampshire died on Friday, October 12, 2007 at Boston Children’s Hospital after contracting Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a virulent strain of staph that does not respond well to penicillin. Catherine was reported to be in good health until acquiring the staph bacteria often referred to as a “superbug.” New Hampshire public health officials cited pneumonia complications related to the MRSA infection as the cause of death.
Officials at Catherine Bentley’s preschool, Boscawen Elementary School, remained in close contact with New Hampshire’s Division of Public Health to ensure that students in the school district were not at risk. The source of the infection has not been discovered at this time.
Catherine Bentley was one of three American children reported to have died of MRSA complications within a one week period. Officials named the other victims as Ashton Bonds, 17, of Bedford, Virginia and Shae Kiernan, 11, of Vancleave, Mississippi.
Several other youths in New Hampshire have been diagnosed with the MRSA form of staph infection during recent weeks, including high school students in Nashua and Derry and two students at Inter-Lakes Junior High School in Meredith. In addition, it was announced on Saturday that an athlete at Plymouth State University is infected with MRSA.
New Hampshire’s chief of disease control said that staph infections are not routinely monitored by public health officials in the state. (source: The Citizen) He cited the impracticality of tracking the occurrence of such a common bacteria.
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