Woman becomes 47th person to die of aggressive bacteria

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- A Nichols Hills woman is the 47th person in Oklahoma to have died from a bacterial infection. <br/><br/>Integris Baptist Medical Center officials say Donya Hicks Dunn died earlier

Saturday, May 15th 2004, 9:49 am

By: News On 6

(Oklahoma City-AP) -- A Nichols Hills woman is the 47th person in Oklahoma to have died from a bacterial infection.

Integris Baptist Medical Center officials say Donya Hicks Dunn died earlier this month from a Group A streptococcus infection.

The bacteria can cause strep throat, scarlet fever, rheumatic fever and flesh-eating bacteria.

A blood infection from the bacteria caused Dunn to go into toxic shock and die.

The Health Department's director of communicable diseases, Lauri Smithee says the bacteria is not deadly if caught early enough.

While 47 people have died from the bacteria, 214 people have had serious complications.

The bacteria can enter the body through the respiratory system when someone coughs or sneezes.

Smithee says covering your mouth when sneezing or coughing could reduce the spread of the bacteria. A high fever is one early symptom.