The Staph Scare

WaPo reports today that "as national estimates focus on an increase in serious infections caused by an antibiotic-resistant germ, officials in the Washington region have identified more than a dozen cases among students and are organizing extensive cleanups of numerous schools."

Including two at Wilde Lake High School.

"According to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infection in the United States. A contaminated cut or scrape can become red, swollen or increasingly painful. The danger with MRSA is that it is often not correctly identified and treated with the right antibiotics, giving the germ a chance to become invasive."

"A report this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association estimates that serious incidences of this strain are far more frequent than previously thought. Every year in the United States, the researchers said, MRSA causes more than 94,000 acute infections and nearly 19,000 deaths."

According to the Sun: "Health officials have instructed school administrators to conduct regular, daily cleaning and disinfecting of 'common surfaces' such as tables in libraries, lockers and desks in classrooms.

"Howard school officials also plan to send a letter to parents in the wake of a second case of staph reported in less than a week at Wilde Lake High School in Columbia."

Here's a link to a Sun blog recounting what safety tips Wilde Lake administrators shared with parents when the first care was identified.