
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 2, 1995                   TAG: 9505020125
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-2   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: SANDRA KELLY
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Short

STREP DEATH NOT PART OF OUTBREAK

The death of a Roanoke County man from a streptococci group A infection last week does not appear to be associated with an outbreak of the bacterium late last year in the Shenandoah Valley.

Five people died in the Shenandoah Valley outbreak.

No details were available about the local death, but health officials said no more cases of infection have been reported in the Roanoke area.

Strep A infections, which include the common strep throat, have not been diseases whose reporting was required, but health departments and the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have started to collect data on deaths related to the bacterium.

In a population of 100,000, four deaths annually from strep A could be expected based on past experience, said Dr. Suzanna Jenkins, assistant state epidemiologist.

"We are going to see these cases throughout the state throughout the year," she said. "It's part of the normal background of this organism."

Keywords:
FATALITY

by CNB