BOILS REMAIN ISSUE IN JAIL LITTLE PROGRESS IN DISEASE FIGHT.

Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer

Los Angeles County officials say they have made little progress in containing a painful skin disease that has swept through the county jails, infecting more than 1,350 inmates, some jailers and one jailer's child.

Dr. Elizabeth A. Bancroft, county epidemiologist, said 9 percent of the 920 inmates who contracted the painful, unsightly boils last year entered the jail with the disease.

About 160,000 inmates cycle through the county's jails each year with the current population of 18,000 inmates changing on average every 55 days. All the county's jails, including the North County Correctional Facility in Saugus, have seen cases of the antibiotic-resistant staph infection.

County officials are conducting a six-month study to determine how widespread the infection is among the general population.

Mark Thomas McDonald, an inmate at the Twin Towers Correctional Facility, has filed a $2.5 million claim against the county alleging he suffered the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in August 2002.

According to the claim, a precursor to a lawsuit, jailers delayed sending him to the doctor for nine days. At that point, emergency room surgeons had to extract four teeth and install two shunts in his jaw to drain the infection, he claims.

The Board of Supervisors criticized county health and jail officials Tuesday for not taking more steps to prevent the spread of the disease. Supervisors also asked County Counsel Lloyd Pellman whether Fielding could declare a local health emergency and require inmates to take daily showers.

One of the problems contributing to the spread of the disease is that some jail inmates use their time out of their cell to make phone calls rather than shower. Officials believe good hygiene would help stop the spread of the infections.