Pennsylvania prisons have become a greenhouse for a virulent and highly contagious strain of Staphylococcus. The so-called "MRSA" (for Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureau) strain of bacteria is a fast-growing infection which generally rots through the victims skin. It can be fatal especially to older or weakened victims. The disease spreads readily from person to person, particularly between men forced to share the same tiny prison cell. In the filthy Pennsylvania prisons MRSA has infected many prisoners. Nobody counted how many or cared much about the disease until it started infecting prison guards. The guards are given an endless supply of rubber gloves to protect them. Prisoners aren't allowed to possess or use such protection. The medical department in at least one Pennsylvania prison circulated an alert to the staff. It taught the guards how to wash their hands; actually giving step-by-step hand-washing instructions as one might do with a toddler. (Prison guards aren't recognized as being as bright as toddlers.) No similar warning or alert was issued to the prisoners - let 'em rot! Even with the alert, guards are being infected. At last count, at least 11 guards have suffered from MRSA. Nobody knows how many prisoners have been infected or have died from the disease. We know of cases currently active in several Pennsylvania prisons. So far, most infections seem to have proven very difficult to treat, but not totally hopeless. In several cases, it's been necessary to hack-out the infected flesh. The medical folks call that "excising tissue." What's done is the diseased part of the body is dug out. If they miss a germ or two, the Staph keeps right on growing, rotting whatever it touches. In addition, very powerful medications are administered. They are often pumped directly into the heart in an effort to delay or prevent death. At least that's what's done for infected guards. Prisoners are occasionally offered two aspirin and a dab of Vaseline to ease the ream-job that's coming. Let 'em rot! One particularly obnoxious prison guard, Jerry Droppings, a runt who enjoyed demeaning and debasing prisoners, came down with a bad case of MRSA. Maybe he didn't know how to wash his hands. Mr. Droppings quickly became seriously sick. He was hospitalized, had a chunk of infected tissue lopped out and received huge doses of antibiotics and other medications. We have no affection for Mr. Droppings, he's a truly foul human being, but nobody, not even a prison guard, cop or lawyer should suffer from MRSA and its painful complications. We sincerely hope that Mr. Droppings recovers. He has a family who likely hopes to join the imprisonment industry. It's a family business. We sincerely hope that the family isn't infected with the guard's disease. Guard Droppings had a relative who could read and write. The relative whined about the poor darling's medical condition. It doesn't matter how badly he treated others, the relative thought that he should be treated better. We agree. Two wrongs don't make a right. There was a lot of public gnashing of teeth about the case. Nobody cared about the many prisoners similarly infected. We hope that everybody infected with this virulent infection recovers as well and as quickly as possible. Mr. Droppings and his relative seem mostly interested in money. The principal reason for the epidemic of MRSA and other diseases in the Pennsylvania prisons is the very poor materials available for routine cleaning of cells, showers, messhalls, visiting rooms and communal areas. There is no effective disinfectant, no scouring powder or scouring pads. There is no effective soap or detergent to sanitize even the toilets and sinks. Nothing is really clean. Complaints to the prison administration are rebuffed. A few years ago, such cleaning chemicals were readily available. There was far less disease. In fact, the state prison at Huntingdon in central Pennsylvania actually manufactured potent cleaning chemicals for the whole prison system. Pennsylvania prison guards are such pussies, that they were afraid of the cleaning chemicals. The guards treat prisoners so very badly, that they're terrified of retaliation. If they're that scared, perhaps they should have looked for jobs as hairdressers. The bullies worry that, how about if potent cleaning chemicals were to be thrown on them! What would the poor darlings do then?! Such things almost never actually happened. When they did, the effects were trivial. The cowardly guards would be better off to worry about the truly serious consequences of infections such as MRSA from having the prisons so filthy. Pennsylvania prisons now use very small amounts of impotent colored water in place of real cleaning materials. Even that scares some of the more cowardly guards. We know of the case of guard, Mr. "C." He's won't let the men use even the watery "disinfectant" spray. Trembling at the thought that some might be squirted at him, Mr. "C." keeps a tight grip on the bottle. Where a toilet must be disinfected, he personally gives the bowl a meager mist of colored water. Diseases will spread, but the cowardly Mr. "C" is safe from colored water. It appears likely that the MRSA bacteria was carried into the prisons from veterans returning for the insane Iraq war. Lots of prison guards are so enamored with bullying, killing and feeling important, that they've gone to Iraq in hope of killing helpless civilians. They discovered that it wasn't so easy. Some of the civilians didn't like being invaded. They defended themselves. They shot back. The prison guards pretty quickly quit and scurried home, bringing diseases with them. Pennsylvania prison guards seem to think that it's a lot safer to abuse prisoners than to invade other people's land. If MRSA isn't eradicated in the prisons, they may be very wrong. Proper cleaning materials would be the first step in the right direction. Rebecca's Bargain Antiques Collectible Vintage Photos Fine Prints - Old Maps Sheet Music - Old Books Elegant Antiques and Collectibles "There will be days that life will wear you down," Larry Lynn, 2007 You are welcome to use or re-publish any of our material. Please give www.prisoners.com credit as the source. Return to the New and Interesting Items Menu Return to the Glimpse of Prison Life Menu Return to the Prison Medical Treatment Menu Return to the Main Menu. Go to our site Search Feature. Send us Your Comments, Questions or Input.