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Staph outbreak raises concern
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(AP)
Bedford County bus driver Crystal Madelle wipes down the front window of her school bus Wednesday. After a student protest following the death of a Bedford student, officials shut down 21 schools for cleaning Northern Virginia schools have reported 15 staph infections, raising concern about the potentially dangerous bacterial condition that is being blamed for a southern Virginia student’s death this week. The spate of cases sent school officials scrambling to address the heightened concern over recent cases of Methicillin-resistant Staphyloccocus, a drug-resistant strain of the common bacterial infection. Fairfax County and Prince William County school divisions each reported six cases, and Alexandria City also reported two cases. Arlington County reported one case of a separate strain of staph infection. In Maryland, a Laytonsville Elementary School student was the latest child hospitalized with the infection, marking the 14th case Montgomery County Public School officials have reported. “The school has been cleaned with bleach, and the kids are getting their hands squirted with anti-bacterial lotion everywhere they go,” said Kathy Lloyd, the school’s Parent and Teacher Association president. “Of course, we're trying to make it a one-child case.” High school athletes were the ones facing the problem in Fairfax County, and coaches regionwide reminded their squads about washing hands and not sharing equipment, like football helmets and shoulder pads. As they announced the cases Thursday, school officials called for a measured, calm reaction. “I want to assure you that these isolated cases are not a reason to be alarmed,” Prince William County Schools Superintendent Steven Walts said in a phone message to parents. “There is no reason to believe our children are at a higher risk of contracting the infection at school than anywhere else in the community,” Alexandria City Public Schools Superintendent Rebecca Perry wrote in a letter to parents. School systems like Loudoun County and Manassas City without the staph cases are also trying to educate students about the potential for infections. “We're covering the bases and cleaning facilities as we always do,” Loudoun County schools spokesman Wayde Byard said. “It is not uncommon, but it is always sensational when it happens in a school.” Bacteria concerns increased this week with a report from the Journal of the American Medical Association estimated 19,000 people died from staph infections in 2005. The Bedford County school district, between Lynchburg and Roanoke, closed its 21 schools for cleaning Wednesday after a high school student died Monday from what his mother had said was a staph infection. Courtney Mabeus, Taryn Luntz and Maria Hegstad contributed to this report. Join the discussion and take our poll in todyay's examiNation DC: How should school districts deal with the growing number of staph infections? |
