28 Staph Infection Cases Are Reported

Anne Arundel County school officials have sent letters home and urged better hygiene after reports of bacterial skin infections among more than two dozen students. But officials say there is no outbreak and no need to panic.

Twenty-eight staphylococcus infections have been reported at four high schools: Severna Park, Old Mill, Glen Burnie and Chesapeake. Many of the 28 incidents were reported by students or their parents in the past three weeks; some had occurred in the summer but were reported as parents became aware of other cases.

"There's by no means an outbreak or epidemic here," said schools spokeswoman Maneka Wade. "But parents became more aware of the possibility of infection after we sent a letter home to them."

County health officials said they have confirmed only one case. "They are mostly self-reported. We don't have lab confirmation or physician reports," said spokeswoman Elin Jones. "But the message of prevention is always a good and important thing."

Talk of staph infections at Severna Park High began last month with reports of three students and two adults being infected. After parents complained of dingy conditions in the school's locker rooms, officials sent a letter home with students Oct. 1 and began scrubbing the locker rooms daily with a hospital-grade disinfectant solution and cleaning all other parts of the county's 12 high schools with a bleach solution.

"We plan to keep using the solution until we're sure there's no problem at the schools," Wade said.

Parents, however, have expressed concern that the schools aren't doing enough to prevent infections.

"They need to be more proactive rather than reactive regarding something like staph," said Larry Sells, president of the athletic booster club at Severna Park High. "We want to make sure there's ongoing due diligence being done here."

Millions of Americans unknowingly carry staph bacteria on their skin or in their nose without symptoms or infection, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. But sometimes the bacteria cause skin infection, leading to red, swollen or painful skin. It can spread through open cuts, skin contact or contaminated surfaces. Most such infections are minor, but some become serious (such as surgical wound infections, bloodstream infections and pneumonia).

Schools in Bedford and Roanoke counties in Virginia also have dealt with reports of staph infections in recent weeks. And infections have increased at hospitals in the Washington region in recent years. The bacteria are often treated with antibiotics, but antibiotic-resistant strains have begun to spread in recent decades.