KJCT8.com - Grand Junction, Montrose - Weather, News, Sports | Health Experts Cleaning School In Montrose, warning parents
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School officials confirm, a student at Montrose High School has tested positive for a drug resistant microbe called MRSA. This may be the first official case in the state of Colorado.
According to the Centers For Disease Control, MRSA killed three children in a two-week period and sent dozens more students in 16 states to the hospital.
Information from CDC:
MRSA: What is it? MRSA- methicilin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus
Lives harmlessly in the noses and on the skin of millions of people. Can cause serious harm if it enters through a cut and reaches the bloodstream, attacking bones and tissue.
MRSA is a type of bacteria that is resistant to certain antibiotics. These antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. Staph infections, including MRSA, occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems.
MRSA infections that occur in otherwise healthy people who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) are known as community-associated (CA)-MRSA infections. These infections are usually skin infections, such as abscesses, boils, and other pus-filled lesions. (see Community-associated MRSA. )
How to avoid it:
Basic infection control practices are key to the prevention and control of MRSA in healthcare settings. The following resources provide recommendations for the prevention and control of many healthcare-associated diseases and infections including infections with drug resistant organisms such as MRSA.
MRSA lives on surfaces like your nose and on skin, and clothes. Don't share clothes that come into contact with patient and wash your hands frequently with soap and warm water or use hand sanitizer. Also keep cuts and scrapes clean and covered at all times. And avoid sharing personal items like towels or razors.
In Richmond, Indiana, one quarter of the town's 1,900 high schoolers were forced to stay home October 18th after a football player came down with a case of MRSA.
Custodians used hospital-grade disinfectant to clean the entire Montrose High School campus, including the cafeteria and locker rooms.
Montrose District Officials will be working with principals from all the schools to reinforce good hygiene practices among their staff and students. Classes will resume on Monday as usual.
