A potent strain of streptococcus bacteria has killed a nine-year-old Salt Lake County boy.
Though it's an isolated case and does NOT pose a public health threat, doctors at University Hospital say the boy apparently progressed from good health to death in just a matter of hours.
The story from Science Specialist Ed Yeates.
Within what is called the family of Group A streptococcus bacteria, one is extremely potent.
For some reason - some people can't fight it off. The University Hospital may see about ten of these cases per year.
But the infection in this nine-year-old boy is one of the worst doctors have seen.
Harry Hill, M.D. / Chief of Clinical Pathology, U of U: "THE PEOPLE WHO SAW HIM IN THE HOSPITAL IN THE EMERGENCY ROOM OF THE HOSPITAL INDICATED THAT THIS WAS ONE OF THE MOST SEVERE, RAPIDLY PROGRESSIVE STREP INFECTIONS."
The rapidness at which the boy deteriorated is not unlike what happened to 35-year-old Denise Pulsipher in 1992.
She died in the ICU at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center within five days after she was infected.
ED YEATES, SCIENCE SPECIALIST: "BUT THE NINE-YEAR-OLD BOY WHO WAS RESPONSIVE WHEN HE LEFT HOME, WAS IN CARDIAC ARREST BY THE TIME HE ARRIVED AT UNIVERSITY HOSPITAL."
And that was only about a half-hour in time.
He had no cuts or wounds, which is often the entry point for the bacteria. And even when doctors tested him for strep..
DR. HILL: "THIS WAS VERY UNUSUAL, BECAUSE HE ACTUALLY HAD A NEGATIVE THROAT CULTURE. I BELIEVE EVEN THE BLOOD CULTURE DID NOT TURN OUT POSITIVE. THEY ACTUALLY FOUND THE ORGANISM IN THE LUNG."
University of Utah researchers are currently studying Group A strep, hoping to understand more about the bacteria and what mechanisms make some strains more potent.
They also want to know why the immune systems in some people make them more vulnerable to infections.
DR. HILL: "AS THE ORGANISM BECOMES MORE COMMON IN THE COMMUNITY AND AS IT PASSES FROM PERSON TO PERSON, I THINK IT GETS MUCH MORE VIRULENT. IT GETS MUCH MORE INVASIVE."
ED YEATES: "AFTER THE FUNERAL, UNIVERSITY RESEARCHERS WILL CONTACT THE BOY'S PARENTS, HOPING TO INCLUDE HIS CASE STUDY IN THEIR LONG RANGE RESEARCH OF GROUP A STREP."
The research team also hopes to send a blood sample from the boy to a special government lab in Montana which is helping with the streptococcus study.
April 30, 2002
