Megan Fuchs
Golden Staph

AwardWhite Ribbon

SchoolBrecksville-Broadview Heights High School

CityBroadview Heights, Ohio

TeacherAnne Jones

InternAlexander O'Dell

MediumPainting

Artist's Statement

Alexander O'Dell discovered that a large number of patients undergoing general thoracic surgery were carriers of Staphylococcus Aureus (SA). In my painting, I focused on the 34.5% of patients who developed postoperative infectious complications after surgery. The most common complication was pneumonia. The areas affected by the SA bacteria (the nose and the scar from thoracic surgery) are painted gold due to the common nickname, "golden staph." I painted the patient blue to show that he is cold despite having a high temperature (represented by the red background) because he has developed pneumonia.