With the recent outbreak of the drug-resistant staphylococcal disease in which a student died in Virginia, has many people across the country worried about contracting disease. Local schools are taking precautions to keep students healthy. The main step is cleanliness. Caddo Director of Special Programs, Dr. Dominic Salinas said "It's as simple as washing your hands, repeatedly, throughout the day."
In South Louisiana, Three Hammond High School football players have returned to school after being held out recently for treatment of staph infections. The principal says a teacher remains out of school and on antibiotics for a similar infection. Principal Carmon Moore says school officials have wiped down doorknobs and computer keys, cleaned the football locker room and other areas where the staphylococcus aureus bacterium could breed. Moore says students and teachers have been warned to wash their hands. Staph is a common bacterium found on the skin and in the noses of up to 25 percent of healthy humans and animals. Moore says he made the announcement to be cautious in light of the death Monday of a Bedford, Virginia high school senior from a virulent strain of the staph bacterium.
In Texas, the state has issued new guidelines for preventing staph infections as the public becomes more concerned about drug-resistant cases that can turn deadly. Many of the guidelines focus on hygienic practices to reduce spread of the bacteria in places like high school locker rooms, child-care facilities, dormitories, gyms and spas. The top recommendation is regular hand washing. A report released this week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than 90,000 Americans get infections each year from a drug-resistant form of staph. Most cases are mild skin infections, but the bug is blamed for about 18,500 deaths annually. Texas health officials believe they're seeing more cases of the drug-resistant bug, but it's difficult to track because health authorities don't require that cases be reported.
