Weekly releases (1997–2007) - Volume 6, Issue 21, 23 May 2002

Last week, the Public Health Laboratory Service in England reported an isolation of a glycopeptide resistant methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) (1). The organism was isolated from a patient with endocarditis who had failed to respond to treatment with this antibiotic used in combination with gentamicin and rifampicin.

Between 13 and 19 May, 29 cases of vomiting, diarrhoea, and fever affected British military staff in Bagram, Afghanistan, as reported in this week’s Communicable Disease Report (1). The illness had a short incubation period and mainly affected staff in the field hospital. Three patients were classified as seriously ill, with circulatory collapse (Glasgow coma score 4). Due to the difficult conditions in Bagram, 10 of them were brought back to the United Kingdom (UK) for medical care in National Health Service (NHS) hospitals.