Pocono News Section

MRSA Strikes Stroudsburg

MRSA Strikes Stroudsburg - Monday, October 29, 2007 at 4:07PM EST

Reported by: Laurie Monteforte
Monday, Oct 29, 2007 @04:07pm EST
STROUDSBURG - The Stroudsburg Junior High School got a ceiling to floor scrub down over the weekend after school officials discovered a student had a MRSA Staph Infection.

School Superintendent John Toleno said, "All flat surfaces, any surface students or staff could come in contact with have been wiped down thoroughly and then we went in to each of the classrooms and we do this spray mister."

Toleno told WBRE News the district discovered a student athlete had the antibiotic resistant infection on Tuesday. That day the school nurse examined several athletes with rashes. She sent them to their family doctors for tests. It turned out some of the students had ring worm and one had MRSA.

Toleno said, "That students had not been in school since the day that we sent that student out. That student ahs not been back in contact with any of our students here in our building."

To erase any traces of infection - the district cleaned inside t he building, locker rooms, the stadium and even the school bus the infected student rides. They also checked student athletes for rashes before Friday's sports.

"Everybody came up clean so we're in good shape from that standpoint.."

Officials say the most important thing students or anyone can do to prevent the infection is to wash your hands often. "Even myself, having a 15 year old and a nine year old I have to constantly tell them," said Toleno.

The district says it is working with the local hospital and the State Department of Health and will let parents know immediately if it discovers any more cases.

"We're doing everything within our power to make sure that we screen our athletes, to make sure we screen our other kids if need be. Just to make sure that we take care of these issues. All of our nurses are on a heightened state of alert. All of our school administrators are aware of this," said Toleno.