Deadly Staph on Rise in U.S. Schools MRSA

[Athena]

Spreading recklessly in schools across the nation, new cases of students infected with a potentially deadly drug-resistant Staph infection have been reported.

While 28 cases of the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection have been reported so far from 5 high schools in Maryland region, 2 students from Naperville North High School in the western suburb of Chicago have also been diagnosed with the staph infection.

Adding to the woes, 21 public schools in western Virginia were closed for cleaning after three students died from a suspected Staph infection in the past week.

Despite education officials arguing that there is no evidence about infected students being exposed to deadly infection at school, vigorous cleaning of classrooms, locker rooms and other parts of the school is being carried out.

About Staph:

Staphylococcus aureus,, a bacterial infection belonging to the Staphylococcaceae family, comprises of 31 species. While most species are completely harmless, and reside normally on the skin and mucous membranes of humans and other organisms, one pathogenic species, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has recently become a major cause of many Staph infections.

http://tinyurl.com/29cj9u

http://www.themoneytimes.com/articles/20071020/deadly_staph_on_rise_in_u_s_schools-id-1011772.html

[WarmNCozy]

MARTIN COUNTY — While Martin County High School officials expanded the number of parents notified about a drug-resistant staph infection, health department officials said Thursday there's no need to panic.

"Parents should not be concerned about sending their children to any school," said Mark Chittum, Martin County Health Department administrator. "There's no real high risk for transmission in a typical classroom environment. It's really most prevalent in the schools in the athletic area."

The majority — if not all — of the nine confirmed cases of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, are among student athletes at Martin County High. There are six suspected cases waiting to be identified, said Dr. Karen Thomas, with the health department.

Parents of student athletes at Martin County High, South Fork High and Jensen Beach High got a letter home earlier this week about the infection. And after Martin County High school officials learned about a Virginia student who died from MRSA, the same letter was sent home to all parents, said district spokeswoman Cathy Brennan.

Of the local confirmed cases, no student has become seriously ill or has had to be hospitalized, Thomas said.

A senior in Bedford, Va., died Monday after being diagnosed with MRSA. The infection had spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and muscles around his heart. Officials in Bedford closed 21 schools for cleaning to stop the spread of the infection.

"What we have are fairly normal cases that are being treated under the normal protocols," Chittum said. "In the high school environment, as a general rule, it's a fairly treatable disease if it's monitored and identified."

In Martin County, all high schools are undergoing a thorough cleaning of athletic facilities, including sanitation of athletic equipment, said Brennan.

While Thomas couldn't confirm that all the confirmed cases were from Martin County High, she said one reason the letter was sent home to student athletes at the three high schools was because the students "interact with each other" and might share equipment.

Martin County High's football team plays Jensen Beach High tonight at the Stuart school.

Jensen Beach High football coach Ralph Radtke said his school plans to sanitize its locker room, helmets and pads on Sunday to prevent possible spread of the staph infection at Jensen Beach following the game.

He also said the school will only use Martin County's gym locker room for the team's halftime meeting and will meet initially in the Falcons locker room.

The health department recommended ways of deep cleaning the school's athletic and physical education facilities after Martin County High's first confirmed case in August. Staff writers Lisa Riddle and Colleen Wixon and the Associated Press contributed to this report.

ABOUT MRSA

•Infections caused by Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus bacteria — better known as MRSA — are increasing. Close skin-to-skin contact, such as that which occurs in contact sports like wrestling and football, spreads the bacteria.

•With MRSA, the infected area usually starts as a small bump or pimple, resembling a "spider bite" which becomes progressively more red, swollen and painful and may have pus.

•Good hygiene is the best defense against MRSA and all staph infections. Students should wash hands thoroughly; keep cuts bandaged until healed; avoid contact with people's wounds; avoid sharing personal items such as towels or razors.

•Wash uniforms and towels with hot water and laundry detergent after each use and clean recreational equipment with a disinfectant spray.

•If students suspect they might have a lesion, they should report it to their coach or school nurse.

For more information, contact the Martin County Health Department at (772) 221-4030 ext. 2130.


http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2007/oct/18/martin-decides-notify-all-high-school-parents-stap/

[JuneKleever]

http://www.cdc.gov/Features/MRSAinSchools/

Glad to see this topic at CL.

[JuneKleever]

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,302738,00.html


Confirmed Staph Infection at Connecticut Public School: Letter to Parents
Wednesday, October 17, 2007


In our mission to maintain the health and welfare of all members of Weston High School, we are proactive in addressing concerns. Our purpose in providing you with accurate information is precaution and prevention, not alarm.

While we cannot confirm the origin of the infection, we do know that we have one confirmed case of community acquired MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) and one unconfirmed case awaiting culture results.

We are notifying everyone in the event that there are other possible cases; we are assessing the situation to help limit the spread of this potentially contagious infection. We have been in contact with the districts medical advisor Dr. L. Marks, with the Westport Weston Health District and with the Connecticut State Department of Health to review precautionary procedures. Please be assured that we are following the guidelines from the CDC for infectious diseases. We are asking parents to discuss this issue with their children.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus is a type of staph that is resistant to certain antibiotics. MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people. Skin infections caused by staph may be red, swollen, painful or have pus or other drainage…. MRSA is transmitted most frequently by direct skin-to-skin contact. (http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa.html)


Anyone who may think he or she has developed fluid filled pimples, pustules, blisters, crusted covered bumps or any other rash that looks suspicious needs to contact his or her physician.

Precautionary protocol as outlined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention includes hand washing or using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, covering any open skin area such as abrasions or cuts with a clean dry bandage and avoidance of sharing personal items such as towels, razors or athletic equipment.

If you have any concerns regarding your childs health, please contact your physician. Of course, questions can also be addressed to Sheryl Zulkeski, the school nurse (291-1680).

Thank you for working in partnership with us.

Sincerely,

Principal W.H.S. Nurse

[JuneKleever]

10 Cases of Drug-Resistant Staph Reported at Iona College
Saturday, October 20, 2007

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. — Westchester County is asking hospitals, doctors and colleges to report any cases of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection after 10 members of an Iona College athletic team were infected, a health official said.

The county Health Commissioner, Dr. Joshua Lipsman, said he hoped to "see if there's any kind of a pattern." The reporting isn't required by law.

Lipsman said Friday that the Iona outbreak was "under control." One student athlete had been hospitalized but has been released, he said. Iona spokeswoman Cecelia Donohoe said all the cases had been caught early and were mild, involving "a pimple or a boil."

Click here to view a video report from MyFoxNY.com.

Staph infections, including the serious Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, have spread through schools nationwide in recent weeks, according to health and education officials. A high school senior in Virginia died of the disease on Monday, his mother said.

Lipsman confirmed in an interview that the Iona cases were MRSA, which does not respond to penicillin and related antibiotics but can be treated with other drugs. He called the disease "an emerging health threat."

The infection can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or by sharing an item used by an infected person, particularly one with an open wound.

The cases at Iona began last month. The total includes nine students and one coach, Lipsman said.

He said the last confirmed case was a week old, "but because it is an emerging health threat, and there aren't a lot of good statistics yet, we can't say for sure whether that case last week will be the last or they might have a few more."

The commissioner said Iona, in New Rochelle, was dealing properly with the infection. He and Donohoe said team members with open wounds have been forbidden to play, the weight room has been disinfected and all students have been advised about proper hygiene, such as "scrupulous" hand washing and avoiding the sharing of razors or towels.

Lipsman said county health officials would meet with Iona representatives next week to review the cases and any other measures that should be taken.

Donohoe would not say which Iona team was affected, citing privacy concerns. Lipsman said all the victims were men.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,303762,00.html

[JuneKleever]

Apparently this case in UK happened in Sept. is only now (Oct.16, '07) being reported. Sounds like the same strain of the outbeak we have.

The cases being reported in our area seem to be, curiously, sports related.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/lancashire/7046528.stm

""The particular strain of MRSA in the unit has only just been identified and until we were in possession of all the facts we did not want to raise alarm or concern within the community," she said."

[JuneKleever]

The first reported cases in CT was at a fine and rather isolated Weston HS - They were excellent first responders. Shortly thereafter, appx. 30 min. away, near Newtown, another report. I believe New Haven County has now reported cases. The locations form an an arc pattern - a "C" if you count New Rochelle NY, we're now learning has 10, and was the first in this appx. 50 mile radius. What could have set this off, all so close together, within the same time frame? Makes you wonder what they had in common. Did an industrial laundry use a new process or did a delivery truck deliver more than towels? How this entered our school environment should, hopefully, be traceable.

MRSA in its many forms is nothing new, but this pattern presents questions for me.

http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol12no10/06-0387.htm

(only if you're interested in Public Health, the history as it unfolds, the
difference in hospital and community acquired, etc.)

this study was made in Oct 2006, here's a portion of the link.
The conclusion of the study:

"This study shows transmission of the CA-MRSA ST80-IV strain among members of a Dutch soccer team. Transmission apparently occurred not only between members of this team but also to a competing soccer team. Transmission of the USA300 strain between members of different teams was previously described for football teams (8). We cannot rule out the possibility of an independent colonization of the ST80-MRSA-IV strain in the competing team, but the 2 teams competed against each other during the period when the first symptoms were noted by members of the first team. Because soccer involves much less contact than football, rugby, or wrestling, MRSA transmission may not necessarily have been caused by skin-to-skin contact but could also have occurred by sharing equipment or personal items. This possibility has also been suggested in a report about a CA-MRSA outbreak among sports participants (12).

"To our knowledge, this is the first report of an outbreak of the CA-MRSA ST80-IV strain in a sports team. As with the USA300 strain, more outbreaks of CA-MRSA ST80-IV are likely.
.................................................. .................................................
Does anyone know if the current outbreak strain has been made public? CDC is good at info control. If you comes across a map of
pointing out the locations/dates and numbers of cases, please post.

[JuneKleever]

http://www.wvnstv.com/story.cfm?func=viewstory&storyid=30412

MRSA Fears Have Parents and Students Concerned
Updated Friday, October 19, 2007 ; 07:10 PM

The bacterial infection has parents concerned and students scared to go to school.

At least one school bus was met by protesters Friday morning in Wyoming County. Parents on all-terrain vehicles tried to block it from dropping off kids at Baileysville Grade School and Middle School.
They Wyoming County Sheriff's Department sent deputies to escort kids to classes.
The protest was a result of rumors are circulating of a MRSA outbreak.
[snipped]
They blame the board of education for keeping them in the dark about any possible infections.
Wyoming County parents aren't the only ones upset. People in other parts of Southern West Virginia are frustrated as well.

Students walked out of Summers County High School on Friday. After two confirmed cases of MRSA in the school they say they're scared.
One other case has been confirmed in the county at Jumping Branch Elementary school.
Dozens of students walked out of the high school, some went back but others went across the street and protested.
The students say they don't feel like the school has taken the appropriate measures to keep them safe.
School officials say the school is clean and safe, but students don't believe enough has been done.
[snipped]

[JuneKleever]

[URL="http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/11/08/60minutes/main3474157.sh

tml"]
A Nov. 11 2007 update. No news is good news, let us hope.

[Greenstar89]

: I work in a large hospital in MA. I know for a fact that these kids with resistant MRSA are being allowed to go to school with the healthy kids. No one knows however, because it is against HIPPA regulations to give out information on these kids. :shrug: I have bottom line info as I work close to the situation that the schools are not notified of the childs illness. They say it is not something to worry about. It is serious and very contagious and any child with it should be home schooled until it it cleared up if possible? Instead of sending them in among healthy children. Its scary and there is nothing at all we can do about it. :flamemad:

[One2Snoop]

: I work in a large hospital in MA. I know for a fact that these kids with resistant MRSA are being allowed to go to school with the healthy kids. No one knows however, because it is against HIPPA regulations to give out information on these kids. :shrug: I have bottom line info as I work close to the situation that the schools are not notified of the childs illness. They say it is not something to worry about. It is serious and very contagious and any child with it should be home schooled until it it cleared up if possible? Instead of sending them in among healthy children. Its scary and there is nothing at all we can do about it. :flamemad:

Maybe you can find a reporter who'd be interested in this information? Sometimes all it takes is a reporter who is just as upset as you are and they'll take the info and run with it. Just a thought.

[kathmandu]

: I work in a large hospital in MA. I know for a fact that these kids with resistant MRSA are being allowed to go to school with the healthy kids. No one knows however, because it is against HIPPA regulations to give out information on these kids. :shrug: I have bottom line info as I work close to the situation that the schools are not notified of the childs illness. They say it is not something to worry about. It is serious and very contagious and any child with it should be home schooled until it it cleared up if possible? Instead of sending them in among healthy children. Its scary and there is nothing at all we can do about it. :flamemad:

I feel there should be a law in place that requires pediatricians to notify a child's school or day care center if a child has a deadly form of a bacteria that could potentially kill other children. If the doctor notifies the school nurse and the school is aware of this, the parents would be out of luck when they try to drop their children off to potentially infect other healthy children with something that could KILL THEM.

(I'm not talking about head lice, the common cold, a headache, a stomach virus, etc. )

If vaccines are given as a means of protecting the herd from deadly diseases, why not pass a law as a means of protecting the same herd,
which would state that a parent risks being fined $5,000 for sending a MRSA contagious child to school, which could jeopardize the LIFE of other children.

Please, in the name of public health and safety, if you have a contagious form of anything, do not :no: spread it around to other adults or children. You may recover from your illness, but others with weakened immune systems may die from something you infected them with.

Happy 4th of July! :patriot:

[One2Snoop]

I feel there should be a law in place that requires pediatricians to notify a child's school or day care center if a child has a deadly form of a bacteria that could potentially kill other children. If the doctor notifies the school nurse and the school is aware of this, the parents would be out of luck when they try to drop their children off to potentially infect other healthy children with something that could KILL THEM.

(I'm not talking about head lice, the common cold, a headache, a stomach virus, etc. )

If vaccines are given as a means of protecting the herd from deadly diseases, why not pass a law as a means of protecting the same herd,
which would state that a parent risks being fined $5,000 for sending a MRSA contagious child to school, which could jeopardize the LIFE of other children.

Please, in the name of public health and safety, if you have a contagious form of anything, do not :no: spread it around to other adults or children. You may recover from your illness, but others with weakened immune systems may die from something you infected them with.

Happy 4th of July! :patriot:

Interesting thought. Thanks for sharing. Happy 4th to everyone. :patriot:

[Greenstar89]

Its gets even worse. The child that was infected with MRSA. His mother was calling the office asking the PCP when he could go back to school. The school did not know about it. I know this. It was up to the MD to let her know when he could go back. I sympathized with her and asked her where she worked? I was trying to find out where she worked. Even I was stunned when she told me that she worked as a CNA in the newborn ward. Taking care of the mom's who had just given birth and that she had just started the job. Well, I was floored! Yes. Its true! Hippa regulations my ass! What about the regulations when it comes to insurance companies. This information is more urgent and should be legally made known to the school systems. Insurance get anything they want.