ROARING SPRING — In recent days, families across the region were made aware of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, following the recent death of a high school student in Virginia.

But for one Blair County family, the life-threatening staph infection dogged them long before MRSA was in the media spotlight.

Just more than three years ago, Dan and Susan learned that their 18-month-old son needed to have surgery on a bilateral hernia. Although no parent wants to hear that his or her child must have surgery, the couple – who wish to remain anonymous – took comfort in knowing the hernia surgery is considered to be somewhat routine.

As any mother would do, Susan worried.

Dan masked his concerns for his son and was strong for his wife. The little boy had outpatient surgery performed by a Blair County surgeon on a Friday. By Saturday, he showed signs of problems.

“I immediately noticed something wasn’t right,” Susan said.

“On Saturday, his incision site was very swollen. He was running a low-grade fever. I called the doctor that day and was told swelling is normal. By Saturday night, he broke out in hives. They assumed it was a reaction to (medicine).”

That night, the toddler was admitted for pain management, just a little more than 24 hours after being released. His parents were told the child had an enlarged scrotum due to a hematoma, a blood pocket, the body would eventually absorb in time.

On Monday, the third day after surgery, the toddler was sent home again. But by Wednesday the family once again was back at the hospital.

This time, a doctor recognized that the toddler had a serious staph infection and said he required immediate surgery. The child tested positive for MRSA.

“They did an open-wound technique in the hospital where they allowed the infection to drain,” Susan said. “He was in the hospital for close to two months.

“About six months later, he had what they thought was a reoccurring hernia. This time we went to Children’s Hospital in Pittsburgh. They re-opened it and he was fine. Then after that, he began getting boils. They put him on Keflex and an ointment. But the boils kept returning. Then it started passing through our family.

“I had five boils. My husband had four and even my dad had to be admitted for multiple abscesses because they got so large.”

Five of the six family members have battled the infection on an ongoing basis for almost three years. The latest outbreak was two months ago.

“On Aug. 27, my son’s scrotum swelled very large. We were sent to Pittsburgh,” Susan said. “Five different surgeons were all convinced it was a strangulated hernia and they opened him up and found the staph infection.”

Doctors prescribed another antibiotic, Susan said. Unfortunately, the toddler had a hypersensitivity to the medicine they prescribed and cannot take it again.

“My son is the weak link. He gets it the worst,” Susan said.

The family now is going through a cleansing process as recommended by the infectious control specialist at Geisinger Medical Center in Danville.

For six months, family members must take a Clorox bath twice a week in the hottest water they can tolerate.

Each must soak for 15 minutes.

“We put a capful of Clorox in the tub,” Susan said. “Our house smells like the YMCA. It is a hard thing to juggle because my entire family has to do this twice a week for six months. There are six of us, so it is a challenge to make sure everyone gets their time in the tub.”

In addition to the Clorox baths, the family must use a cotton swab to put Bactroban ointment in their nasal cavities. This, too, will go on for six months.

“The doctor said if we are vigilant about his, we will get rid of it,” Susan said. “It is going to be a long six months, but it’s been a long three years.”

Tracking the infection soon will become easier.

As part of Gov. Ed Rendell’s Prescription for Pennsylvania, he signed Act 52 into law requiring all hospitals and nursing homes to report all health care-related infections.

Beginning Feb. 14, the state Department of Health will be able to track health care-related infections occurring in hospitals. Nursing homes will follow later in the year.

Under Act 52, hospitals will have until mid-December of this year to develop an infection-control plan. As part of the plan, they must administer screenings and define their high-risk populations.

Most area hospitals have not begun to screen; however, Altoona’s hospital has implemented such a policy.

According to David Cuzzolina, director of communications at Altoona Regional Health System, Altoona Regional began an aggressive approach in dealing with MRSA in 1999.

Cuzzolina said Altoona Regional performs nasal cultures on every patient admitted into the orthopedic and neurological units.

Dr. Jack Barto of Laurel Pediatrics said there are different strains of MRSA.

Staphylococcus epidermidis, which is white, is the most common and is a threat only to premature babies and people with compromised immune systems.

However, more recently the golden color methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus has become the more dangerous strain.

“One of the biggest issues we’ve seen about MRSA is the skin sores,” Barto said.

“I have one young girl who had it under the muscle in her leg and it had to be surgically drained daily and packed with material in the abscess cavity. She was just a little girl who had a break in her skin.’’