Montgomery and Prince George’s County schools said they are using stronger disinfectants to scrub their schools one day after Virginia officials announced the death of a high school senior diagnosed with a vicious strain of staph infection.

Montgomery County this year has had 12 reports of students infected with a virulent strain of staph infection resistant to antibiotics, school officials said.

Another case, at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High, is awaiting confirmation, said schools spokewoman Kate Harrison.

Three of the Montgomery County students were hospitalized. The first was a Sherwood High football player in August. Two other football players, one each from Poolesville and Quince Orchard, were hospitalized in September, Harrison said.

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“We considered that an alert to pay close attention to this,” Harrison said of the August hospitalization. She did not know if those students were back at school.

Harrison said staff consulted with the health department staff to chose choose a cleaner that is effective against staph.

Montgomery County officials said their cases, which are reported by the schools, have been largely among student-athletes, but the two cases that have occurred this month have been at Candlewood and Damascus elementaries, Harrison said.

Glenn Doerrman, co-president of the Candlewood Parents and Teachers Association, said the school was disinfected over the weekend and a letter was sent home to parents.

“It certainly grabs your attention, there’s no question about it and it puts you on alert that you have to keep an eye on your child’s health,” Doerrman said.

The county does not have records of staph-infection cases for previous years, said Judith Covich, director of school health services for the county’s Department of Health and Human Services.

The infections are commonly thought to be easily contracted during hospital stays or at gyms.

Prince George’s County has stepped up its cleaning of locker rooms and gyms, though there have been no reports of infections in the county this year or last year, schools spokesman John White said Tuesday.

He said Prince George’s has begun cleaning its locker rooms and gyms at high schools and middle schools daily with hospital grade disinfectant as a preventative measure.

Anne Arundel school officials Tuesday said the system had 53 self-reported staph cases, only one of which was the antibiotic-resistant strain.

On Monday, Virginia officials announced the death of Bedford County senior who had been hospitalized with the staph infection for a week.