Staph Infections Reported at Schools Across the Country

RICHMOND, Va., Oct. 17 — A high school student hospitalized for more than a week with an antibiotic-resistant staph infection died on Monday, as schools across the country were reporting outbreaks of staph infections, including the antibiotic-resistant strain.

The student, Ashton Bonds, 17, was a senior at Staunton River High School in Moneta, Va., and Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, was diagnosed in him, his mother said.

Officials shut down all 22 schools in Bedford County for cleaning today in an effort to keep the illness from spreading, after students at Staunton River organized a protest overnight Monday, using text messages and social networking sites. On Tuesday, the student organizers led the Bedford County schools superintendent, James Blevins, on a tour of the Staunton River school to show him the state of its sanitation, particularly in its locker rooms.

Mr. Blevins said at a news conference today that the high school would be cleaned today by a commercial cleaning company, and the county’s 21 other schools would be cleaned by their janitors.

Health and education officials have reported that staph infections, including the serious MRSA strain, have spread through schools nationwide in recent weeks.

MRSA is a strain of staph bacteria that does not respond to penicillin or related antibiotics, though it can be treated with other drugs. The infection can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or through sharing an item, like a towel or a piece of sports equipment, that has been used by an infected person, particularly one with an open wound.

The news of staff infections spreading through schools coincides with a report by doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which found that nearly 19,000 people had died in the United States in 2005 after an MRSA infection.

The study, which is being published today in The Journal of the American Medical Association, suggests that such infections may be twice as common as previously thought, according to its lead author, Dr. R. Monina Klevens.

If the mortality estimates are correct, the number of deaths associated with the MRSA germ would exceed those attributed to HIV-AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, emphysema or homicide each year...

This from the New York Times, Photo by Jeanna Duerscherl/Associated Press/Roanoke Times.