Schools in Several States Report Staph Infections, and Deaths Raise the Alarm
(Ian Urbina, NY Times_
Summary: MRSA or methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus is responsible for more deaths in the us each year than even AIDS. It is a strain of bacteria that does not respond to antibiotics but can be treated with other drugs. It can be spread by sharing towels, sports equipment, along with skin to skin contact with an open wound. Wednesday and Thursday schools in Connecticut, Maryland, North Carolina, Ohio, and Virgina were closed so crews could disinfect. Schools in three states have reported student deaths within the last two weeks and four others reported cases of infected students. Nearly 19,000 people died in 2005 from MRSA and 85 percent of the infections were in health care settings. MRSA is usually a mild skin infection that doesn't usually become life-threatening. Ashton Bonds a 17 year old football player from VA died Monday from the bacteria. 15 percent of invasive MRSA cases originated in the community without any health care risk factor.
Response: I think that since we had an outbreak two years ago killing nearly 19,000 and we are in the process of having another outbreak, we really need to crack down on hygiene standards. Locker rooms, bathrooms, classrooms, lunch rooms, everything in the schools need to be clean. I was lucky i went to a really nice and clean school where I don't think there has ever been a staph infection, but many schools aren't as nice, and there really needs to be a standard. Janitors need to sanitize everything and make sure bathrooms have everything for kids to wash their hands. Also, everyone needs to be informed about the chances, what happens when you get it, how you get it and how to prevent from getting MRSA. We didn't learn from our history and we are paying for it again. We need to get hygiene standards for schools and public places set in stone. Hospitals and nursing homes have inspectors, this would be a good idea for schools too.
Lauren Brendel
3 comments:
I agree that we need to crack down on hygiene everywhere, but especially in school classrooms since I don’t think they are cleaned as thoroughly as a bathroom or cafeteria is. Schools don’t have people inspecting classroom like they inspect the kitchen and cafeteria. Kids most often are in the classrooms for longer periods of time so classrooms should be sanitized more carefully on an everyday basis rather than just when there is an outbreak of illness. I also think awareness about this issue will help immensely. I don’t even remember hearing about MRSA until the recent stories. If it kills more people in the United States per year that AIDS, I think I should have heard about it more and have at least known of the precautions. If everyone knew more about the dangers of MRSA, they would better be able to protect themselves from it.
I wish this article would have specified more on what the disease is, because i have never heard of it before. I want to know what part of the body it affects, what scenarios does it turn deadly and how does it start. I would also like to know what age groups it affects the most. Is it high school and college students just because of the close contact between everyone. Or would elderlies be more suscepible. I agree with the blogger that public bathrooms and schools in general need to be more sanitary. I believe that if people are more aware of the possibility of disease spreading, like mrsa, that people would take the extra minute to be more sanitary.
Personally I have never heard of MRSA and it shocks me that so few people know about such a deadly disease. I think all public places should be thoroughly cleaned because this bacteria is so easily spread. If healthy high school football boys are dying from it, imagine what might happen if a break out occurs in a day care! There should be standard cleaning checks set in place and people should be hired to ensure public places are inspected regularly.
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