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Student's MRSA infection confirmed
Tuesday, October 23, 2007 | No comments posted.
Alexander Rich, staff writer
At least one student has contracted a drug-resistant staph infection at Southwestern Oregon Community College, officials said Monday. The case was first reported last Thursday, after a male student had a culture taken to determine if he had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The results from that culture, completed Monday, were positive.
The school administration responded quickly, sterilizing areas that could have harbored the bacteria while also notifying students, faculty and staff. The effort appears to have stopped further spread of the disease.
The college’s Director of Communications Rick Osborn said three other students sought medical help after thinking they had contracted the bacteria. Two were told they didn’t have MRSA, Osborn said. The third had a culture taken, which proved negative.
The student who tested positive has returned home, Osborn said, though efforts have been made so he can continue his studies there.
“We proctored a math test for him at his home so he doesn’t fall behind,” Osborn said.
An e-mail was sent to students Friday, advising them to wash their hands frequently, wear laundered clothing and use the anti-bacterial solutions put into all the campus’ restrooms.
“I think people are taking heed and taking the extra steps to maintain hygiene,” Osborn said.
The disease does not appear to have spread far beyond the Coos Bay school campus, either.
Sherry Cleghorn, a registered nurse at Coos County Public Health Department, said she contacted both Bay Area Hospital and North Bend Medical Center, neither of which reported any MRSA outbreaks.
MRSA is not a reportable disease, Cleghorn said, but it has surfaced in the community before and will likely do so again. And whereas it usually appeared in nursing homes and hospitals in the past, now it crops up in day care centers and in schools.
“So you have to wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands,” she said.
MRSA infections are generally mild and affect the skin with pimples or boils that can become swollen, painful and drain pus. The most common form of transmission is from unwashed hands.
At least one student has contracted a drug-resistant staph infection at Southwestern Oregon Community College, officials said Monday. The case was first reported last Thursday, after a male student had a culture taken to determine if he had Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The results from that culture, completed Monday, were positive.
The school administration responded quickly, sterilizing areas that could have harbored the bacteria while also notifying students, faculty and staff. The effort appears to have stopped further spread of the disease.
The college’s Director of Communications Rick Osborn said three other students sought medical help after thinking they had contracted the bacteria. Two were told they didn’t have MRSA, Osborn said. The third had a culture taken, which proved negative.
The student who tested positive has returned home, Osborn said, though efforts have been made so he can continue his studies there.
“We proctored a math test for him at his home so he doesn’t fall behind,” Osborn said.
An e-mail was sent to students Friday, advising them to wash their hands frequently, wear laundered clothing and use the anti-bacterial solutions put into all the campus’ restrooms.
“I think people are taking heed and taking the extra steps to maintain hygiene,” Osborn said.
The disease does not appear to have spread far beyond the Coos Bay school campus, either.
Sherry Cleghorn, a registered nurse at Coos County Public Health Department, said she contacted both Bay Area Hospital and North Bend Medical Center, neither of which reported any MRSA outbreaks.
MRSA is not a reportable disease, Cleghorn said, but it has surfaced in the community before and will likely do so again. And whereas it usually appeared in nursing homes and hospitals in the past, now it crops up in day care centers and in schools.
“So you have to wash your hands, wash your hands, wash your hands,” she said.
MRSA infections are generally mild and affect the skin with pimples or boils that can become swollen, painful and drain pus. The most common form of transmission is from unwashed hands.
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