The Illinois Department of Corrections says it's more concerned with treating dangerous MRSA infections among prisoners than it is with reporting cases to the public health department as required by law.
Frankly, the department has done an abysmal job on both counts. And that's putting the public at risk.
The prisons had 400 confirmed cases in the first half of 2009, an astronomically high number for a prison population of about 45,000. As you would expect, the infection doesn't limit itself to the bad guys. Some guards have contracted it, and even visitors.
People with this infection can become carriers for life, which means the infection could be spread outside prison walls. It's critical for the inmates' sake, as well as the rest of us, for the Department of Corrections to get the problem under control.
Without accurate reporting, it's difficult to know how good -- or bad -- a job the department is doing at accomplishing that.
A corrections spokeswoman initially said that the department had fully complied with the reporting requirements that went into effect in 2008. But she later confirmed that other cases in 2008 and 2009 were not reported as the law requires. Supposedly a strict reporting process now will be put in place.
Let's hope so. But after the department's failure to comply with the law, then its failure to provide accurate information to our reporters, can the public trust the department to do it right going forward?
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