Action on Jail Staph Infections Urged

County officials pressed the Sheriff’s Department on Tuesday to more aggressively combat the spread in county jails of a painful skin infection resistant to most common antibiotics.

Despite efforts to contain it, an outbreak of infections from drug-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or staph, has continued to worsen after being identified last June, according to an update delivered to the Board of Supervisors.

Of the 165,000 inmates who spent time in county jails last year, 928 tested positive for staph. Since January there have been 325 new infections, including 125 in March, according to the report.

Health officials have said they believe the infections, which cause painful boils and deep abscesses, spread by skin-to-skin contact or shared personal items in the jail system.

Initially, cases of the infection in the system were mistaken for a rash of spider bites, but after staph was identified as the culprit, Jonathan Fielding, the county’s director of public health, recommended in August that the Sheriff’s Department monitor staph cases more closely, educate jail staff and improve inmate hygiene.

Citing the high cost to taxpayers of treating inmates with the infections, including some who require hospitalization, Fielding said the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department is not doing enough.

“The bottom line is that the situation since last August is not getting better,” Fielding said.

Charles Jackson, chief of the Sheriff’s Department’s Correctional Services Division, said that all inmates entering the jail system are now screened for staph and that the recent spike in cases may be due in part to improved screening.

Jackson also said all inmates with staph infections are now removed from their cells or dormitories, along with all of their bedding and linen, then treated with clean bandages and issued new clothing and bedding while their quarters are cleaned.

But after being asked by Supervisor Mike Antonovich whether infected inmates were required to take daily showers, Jackson said enforcing stricter hygiene would be difficult, logistically and legally.

“We’re allowing for daily showers” in most facilities, Jackson said. “[But] we cannot force an inmate to take a shower, sir.”

Some, Jackson said, choose to use telephones or vending machines during the time allotted for showering, and he said he had “no idea” how many shower daily.

The Health Department recommended that the Sheriff’s Department “more aggressively” implement its recommendations, including increasing linen exchanges, ensuring access to soap for all inmates and improving decontamination procedures.

“I don’t care how you do it,” Supervisor Gloria Molina said. “You need to provide us assurances that you are getting it under control.”