Congress Gym Scare: Staph Infection Strikes Staffer

April 16, 2009 — -- Congressional staffers are privy to many Washington, D.C., insider perks -- but catching a bacterial infection at the House of Representatives gym is not one of them.

A House staffer reportedly has contracted the superbug known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), and some who work in the Capitol have speculated that the origin of the infection was in a gym possibly used by some lawmakers, according to a report from the congressional newspaper, The Hill.

A statement The Hill received from the House chief administrative officer said that a House employee who is also a member of the House Staff Fitness Center (HSFC) reportedly contracted the common bacterium, which, in humans, is typically found on the skin and in the nose.

The identity of the infected staffer has not yet been released, nor have there been any further reports of infection.

Meanwhile, the HSFC reportedly has scrubbed down the gym with a germicidal cleaning product.

Dr. John Bartlett, past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., said that the drug-resistant germ is becoming increasingly common, both in the United States and elsewhere.

"This is a huge national and international epidemic," Bartlett said. "It's all over."

"MRSA is everywhere -- 30 percent of us carry it around," agreed Dr. Gary Simon, director of the division of infectious diseases at The George Washington University in Washington, D.C. "It's just the most recent strain of Staphylococcus Aureus. It's ubiquitous. You're going to get it."

For most, the MRSA bacteria may never pose a health problem. And even in those whose infections become noticeable, the most likely manifestation is as a painful boil.

"Most of the infections that we see are skin infections," Simon said. "These are usually treated with incision and drainage, antibiotics or both."

But rarely MRSA can go into overdrive. The resulting "flesh eating" incarnation destroys skin and muscle -- and it can lead to the loss of limbs and, in some cases, death.

"That's the extreme," Bartlett said.