Firefighters, police push for city's help treating drug-resistant infection.

From the Fresno Bee

The Fresno City Council agreed Tuesday that a drug-resistant staph infection afflicting some city firefighters should be considered a work-related injury for firefighters and police officers.

Some firefighters are upset they're forced to pay health insurance co-payments and use their sick time to recover from the infections they believe they contracted at work.

If treated as work-related illness, the city's workers' compensation insurance would cover those bills and pay the firefighters for lost work time.

The council voted 6-1 to direct city staff to write a policy making all cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureaus a work-related illness for firefighters and police officers. The council must approve the policy in a separate vote.