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Source: http://www.gazette.net/stories/09162009/montnew182219_32546.shtml
3 MRSA cases reported since start of school year in Montgomery
Northwest football player, students at Walter Johnson and Whitman report infections
by Meghan Tierney and Andre Taylor | Staff Writers
Three Montgomery County students have reported contracting staph infections caused by bacteria resistant to common antibiotics since the beginning of the school year.
Three confirmed cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, have been reported to the county Department of Health and Human Services since the 2009-10 school year began Aug. 31, said spokeswoman Mary Anderson. There was one case each at Northwest High School in Germantown, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda and Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, she said.
Schools are not required to report confirmed or suspected MRSA cases to HHS, Anderson said. MRSA is not considered a reportable disease by federal or state health officials.
The Northwest student told the school that he had been diagnosed with MRSA on Sept. 1, Anderson said. The student, a football player, has since been treated and cleared to return to school, Montgomery County Public Schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison said. Other players with cuts or open wounds were asked to get tested as a precaution but no additional cases were found, she said.
Northwest Athletic Director Jim Tapley said he and the coaching staff "met with the football team two weeks ago and reviewed proper hygiene and health procedures." A list of ways to prevent infections was given to each of the players at that meeting, Tapley said.
Principal Lance Dempsey said she plans to send a letter home about MRSA with each football player.
"I don't want us to be perceived by the parents that we're hiding anything," Dempsey said. Students seen with open sores have been immediately sent to the school nurse, she said.
"We're not trying to cover anything up," Dempsey said. "I want to be proactive."
MRSA used to be most commonly found in hospitals but has begun appearing more frequently out in the community all over the country, according to the National Institutes of Health's Web page. Bacteria usually enter the body through a cut or open wound and can be transmitted by close skin-to-skin contact or sharing personal items such as towels, razors and sporting equipment.
The infection can be fatal if it spreads to the bloodstream or develops into pneumonia, according to NIH.
In 2007, a Hoover Middle School special education teacher died of complications of the MRSA infection.
3 MRSA cases reported since start of school year in Montgomery
Northwest football player, students at Walter Johnson and Whitman report infections
by Meghan Tierney and Andre Taylor | Staff Writers
Three Montgomery County students have reported contracting staph infections caused by bacteria resistant to common antibiotics since the beginning of the school year.
Three confirmed cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, have been reported to the county Department of Health and Human Services since the 2009-10 school year began Aug. 31, said spokeswoman Mary Anderson. There was one case each at Northwest High School in Germantown, Walt Whitman High School in Bethesda and Walter Johnson High School in Bethesda, she said.
Schools are not required to report confirmed or suspected MRSA cases to HHS, Anderson said. MRSA is not considered a reportable disease by federal or state health officials.
The Northwest student told the school that he had been diagnosed with MRSA on Sept. 1, Anderson said. The student, a football player, has since been treated and cleared to return to school, Montgomery County Public Schools spokeswoman Kate Harrison said. Other players with cuts or open wounds were asked to get tested as a precaution but no additional cases were found, she said.
Northwest Athletic Director Jim Tapley said he and the coaching staff "met with the football team two weeks ago and reviewed proper hygiene and health procedures." A list of ways to prevent infections was given to each of the players at that meeting, Tapley said.
Principal Lance Dempsey said she plans to send a letter home about MRSA with each football player.
"I don't want us to be perceived by the parents that we're hiding anything," Dempsey said. Students seen with open sores have been immediately sent to the school nurse, she said.
"We're not trying to cover anything up," Dempsey said. "I want to be proactive."
MRSA used to be most commonly found in hospitals but has begun appearing more frequently out in the community all over the country, according to the National Institutes of Health's Web page. Bacteria usually enter the body through a cut or open wound and can be transmitted by close skin-to-skin contact or sharing personal items such as towels, razors and sporting equipment.
The infection can be fatal if it spreads to the bloodstream or develops into pneumonia, according to NIH.
In 2007, a Hoover Middle School special education teacher died of complications of the MRSA infection.