MRSA Letter

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Media reports during the past several days have caused concern about a particular type of staph infection, MRSA.

Following is information about MRSA and the best practices for its prevention.

MRSA is spread primarily through contact with bacteria, either by direct person-to-person contact (frequent skin-to-skin contact) or indirectly through shared equipment, personal articles/objects or contaminated surfaces.

Examples of shared objects include towels, soap, razors, clothing and athletic equipment

The MRSA infection may look like a spider bite, turf burn, abscess, boil, Impetigo, Infected skin or wound. If your child has any of these symptoms, please take them to a health care provider for evaluation.

Treatment may include a culture of the wound, antibiotics or draining of a wound or abscess by the health care provider.

What are we doing to prevent the spread of MRSA:

  1. Due to the heightened concerns over the staph infections, the custodians have been instructed to use disinfectant sprays on high traffic areas (i.e. walls, hand rails, etc.) in addition to their normal cleaning procedures. Their normal cleaning procedures include the disinfecting, with a germicidal, all desks and table tops every night as well as toilets, fixtures and dispensers. The request for additional spray is only an extra precautionary measure in order to fulfill the obligation of doing everything possible to keep the schools healthy.
  2. Bus drivers are using cleaners that kill staph.
  3. The District School Nurse and Athletic Director trained the coaching staff and physical education Staff on prevention of MRSA.
  4. The District School Nurse has emailed all the school district staff with information on infection control (hand washing, keeping surfaces and equipment clean, using gloves to handle any blood, body fluids, covering cuts/scrapes or wounds).
  5. The school district staff is receiving written instruction on the prevention of MRSA .

We are continuing our work with students teaching the importance of hand washing, covering coughs and sneezes, and keeping surfaces and equipment clean.

We can all do our part in preventing the spread of infections by doing the following:

  • Practice frequent hand washing with soap and warm water, using an alcohol based hand sanitizer when soap and water not available.
  • Wash cuts and scrapes daily with soap and water and apply a clean dressing until healed
  • Seek medical attention for any cuts, scrapes or wounds that do not heal.
  • Remind children to not touch other people’s wounds or bandages.
  • Do not share personal items such as clothing, towels, or razors.
  • Keep environment clean especially surfaces that come into direct contact with people’s skin.

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