11-MONTH-OLD TREATED FOR FLESH-KILLING ILLNESS.

Byline: David R. Baker Daily News Staff Writer

An 11-month-old Oxnard girl underwent surgery Tuesday as she struggled against an infection from flesh-killing bacteria, which already has taken one-fifth of her skin.

The little girl, identified only as Baby Rosa, was listed in critical but stable condition Tuesday following an operation during which surgeons covered her wounds with cadaver skin to guard against further infection.

Doctors said they believe they have stopped the rampaging bacteria that has destroyed so much of her small body.

``All the signs are that this child's ability to fight this infection is getting better, so I would think her prognosis is good,'' said Dr. John Alexander, head of the hyperbaric treatment unit at Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

Doctors aren't sure how Rosa caught the illness. Her parents, who requested anonymity, rushed her to a Ventura hospital last week after watching the skin on the left side of her chest and back turn burgundy red, doctors said.

When she was admitted to Ventura County Medical Center with a fever of 104 degrees, the child was in shock, her body overwhelmed by a virulent strain of a normally harmless bacteria.

Several kinds of germs can cause this condition, commonly referred to as ``flesh-eating bacteria'' even though tissue is killed, rather than consumed. The germs often are found on healthy people who show no sign of infection, but they can wreak havoc if they get under the skin through a cut or sore.

``These are standard organisms,'' Alexander said. ``It is really the host, in this case a baby, not handling what should be an easily handled infection.''

On Rosa, doctors found no obvious breaks in the skin that could have ushered in the infection.

The first sign of trouble came when Rosa's parents noticed that their only child had a sore throat. Then came the discoloration, spreading from her chest to midway across her back.

Doctors had to cut away one of her back muscles, about 20 percent of her skin and the fatty tissue beneath to stop the infection. In another two weeks, they hope to begin transplanting some of her own skin, perhaps from her scalp to replace the cadaver skin applied Tuesday.

However, they noted that Rosa probably faces years of reconstructive and cosmetic surgery.

Rosa's infection is rare in many ways. The disease strikes few people - about 500 to 1,500 nationwide each year - according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Few of its victims are children, although some as young as six months old have been known to catch the disease through sores caused by chickenpox.

Rosa's illness also appears to have been caused by a strain of the staphylococcus bacterium, not the streptococcus bug behind most cases. Duc Vugia, medical epidemiologist with the state Department of Health Services, said the bacteria may be working in concert with others in Rosa's case.

``I'm not aware of staph causing this by itself,'' he said.

Parents of young children should watch for several of the disease's warning signs: swollen, red skin around a cut, vomiting, a lack of appetite, and a sore throat accompanied by high fever, Vugia said.

Northridge doctors said Rosa's parents were stunned by her illness. Because they have no medical insurance, the Northridge hospital has paid for her treatment, more than $100,000 so far.

``You don't turn your back on a child,'' said Dr. Stephen Bresnick.

The girl, however, might be eligible for emergency Medi-Cal funds, doctors said.

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Photo: (Color) Doctors believe they have contained a flesh-killing bacteria afflicting a girl, 11 months, identified as Baby Rosa.