US Health officials issue guidelines about staph infection

Concerned with the surging spread of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA virus in the United States, the State Health Department and the State Education Department have issued a health advisory to all state schools, giving them guidance how they can prevent and reduce the risk of MRSA infections among students in schools.

Spreading recklessly in schools across the nation, the potentially deadly drug-resistant Staph infection has raised concerns among school officials, students, teachers and parents.

The newly released advisory provides information on the prevention, transmission and treatment of Community-Associated MRSA infections (CA-MRSA) in school settings and stresses the importance of hygiene, environmental cleaning and disinfection.

The health authorities are urging students, families, and educators to wash their hands thoroughly and frequently, since hand-washing can prevent the spread of many infections, including the antibiotic-resistant bacterial infection Staph.

"The health advisory we issued today emphasizes how important common-sense precautions like hand-washing are in reducing MRSA infections in schools,'' said state Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, M.D. "Community-Associated MRSA infection is preventable and treatable. This advisory will provide educators and parents with the information they need about how to prevent and control this increasing public health problem."

Schools and parents should work together to prevent the spread of MRSA, said State Education Commissioner Richard Mills. The authorities are urging all school officers, teachers, and parents to ensure the school environment remains hygienic, and distributing informational material in educational institutions to make everyone aware about the disease, he added.

Meanwhile, Minnesota Department of Health issued a set of educational materials especially for athletes, coaches, health care providers on skin infections and their prevention. What prompted the heath department to release the guidance was surge in infections, including resistant staphylococcal infections and herpes, reported among athletes in recent years.

“Infections in athletes are a serious problem. We need to make sure that effective infection control measures are being used to ensure the safety of athletes,” said Dr. Ruth Lynfield, Minnesota State Epidemiologist.

The releases of guidelines follow the tragic death of a Brooklyn middle school student who was likely infected with MRSA. The student, who attended seventh grade at Intermediate School 211 in Canarsie, died on Oct. 14.

Staphylococcus aureus, a bacterial infection belonging to the Staphylococcaceae family, comprises of 31 species. While most species are completely harmless, and reside normally on the skin and mucous membranes of humans and other organisms, one pathogenic species, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that seldom affected people a decade back, has now become the major cause of many Staph infections in most American cities.

First found in 1961 in the United Kingdom, MRSA is also known as the superbug, and is resistant to all standard antibiotics. It is a communicable infection that often transmits through touch. It thrives on open wounds and patients with weakened immune systems.

The early visible indication for the infection is a pimple, boil or spider bite. In potentially serious cases, it turns cuts into a swollen, inflamed and painful wound. Often diagnosed through skin or blood examinations, other symptoms can include fever, chills and shortness of breath.

Prevention is said to be the best cure for treating potentially life-threatening drug-resistant Staph. Because MRSA can survive on surfaces and fabrics, the need for complete surface sanitation is necessary to curb MRSA strains. Alcohol used in conjunction with Quaternary ammonium has proven to be an effective sanitizer against MRSA.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), as many as 94,000 people in America developed an invasive drug-resistant staph infection in 2005, of which nearly 19,000 succumbed to the disease. CDC estimates that staph infects about 100,000 people and kills about 20,000 each year.