DAYTONA BEACH -- A 12-year-old boy's death was played out in the media in mid-December over a number of days because of conflicting medical diagnoses before the Volusia County Medical Examiner's Office finally ruled Cody Shrout died from drug-resistant staph infection methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, more commonly called MRSA,
an antibiotic-resistant disease that is contagious.
Cody Shrout, a sixth grader at Campbell Middle School, initially went to Halifax Medical Center after he got hurt while riding his skateboard, for which he was given pain medicine. A few days later on Dec. 12, he died in his sleep.
Initially, his death was ruled the result of chicken pox, but several days later came the final culprit: MRSA.
"That was confirmed today," Volusia County spokesman Dave Byron said Dec. 17. "MRSA is the official cause of death."