Oct 23, 2007 8:26 am US/Central
3 South Suburban Teens Catch 'Superbug'
Schools Hasten To Clean Up After Drug-Resistant Bacterium Is Found
EVERGREEN PARK, Ill. (Sun-Times Media Wire) ―
South suburban schools were scrambling to do extra cleaning after several cases of drug-resistant staph infection were reported in the area.
School administrators also were reaching out to parents with information about how to prevent infection after two children at Evergreen Park schools and a Midlothian boy were stricken with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
Several other cases of the potentially deadly infection have been reported in the Chicago metropolitan area in recent weeks, and one 17-year-old in Virginia died from the illness last week.
Many schools, like those in Kirby School District 140 in Tinley Park, were sending information home to parents and ramping up custodial routines.
Schools in Frankfort, Oak Forest, Olympia Fields, Midlothian and Worth were taking similar measures in reaction to recent news about staph outbreaks.
But public health officials said scrubbing down schools only is part of the solution.
Public health officials said good hygiene, particularly hand-washing, is the best front-line defense against the "superbug." In the absence of hot water and soap, alcohol-based sanitizers also can be used.
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(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2009. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
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