[pct-l] Health & Science - Drug-resistant skin infection

[Georgi Heitman]

A few weeks back, we had a hiker come in here with a red, angry-looking place on one forearm.  It was maybe a half inch across and round, surrounded by a pink aura.  The whole area and more of his arm seemed swollen and warm.  
Dennie and I suspect a brown recluse spider bite tho some folks say there are no brown recluses in CA. (I have several friends in the B.A. (east of the coastal mts., who would beg to differ), but they say there is a CA. recluse.  Anyway, we called a nurse friend who came and took a look and agreed.  She also looked at feet, ankles, etc. of other hikers while she was here.  We have the greatest friends!  Our hiker was convinced to visit our local hospital, a 45 minute drive.  I phoned ahead so they were waiting for him.  Sr. W. took one look and said that our diagnosis was incorrect .....but that he was glad to see our hiker anyway, because what he had was worse.  It was a flesh-eating staph infection, and w/o treatment, could have been an extreme problem.  Antibiotics were prescribed, but it still took a day and a half or so for our boys fever and (by now), vomiting to  ease off to the extent that he felt he could begin to hike a few miles a day again.  It was 100 degrees here that next day so the Hat Creek Rim had to be 110 or so and with practically no shade, it had to be a very tough day.  The infection he had was not resistant to the antibiotics the dr. chose, but my understand is that some hikers carry an antibiotic of some sort, often prescribed by their own doctor, as sort of a backup med for an infection.  The use of a mild antibiotic could possibly have, rather than help an infection of this type, increased it's resistance to other meds that normally helped cure this man's very serious infection.  Does this seem logical to anyone else?  That's point # 1, my second one would be that I feel too many hikers feel that they'd rather hike on than seek help.  A day as hot as the one this man hiked the Rim on could have been very near fatal, had he not been willing to see a doctor.  Kudos for clear thinking on his part, and to the support team that were able to follow up on his recovery.  We hope he's doing well.
Georgi