Richmond superintendent urges calm

A school superintendent in eastern Georgia says staff members and medical personnel are doing everything they can to prevent students, teachers and employees from getting staph infection. But he's urging the public not to panic.

Richmond County's superintendent, Dana Bedden, said in a news conference today that officials are disinfecting schools. They're also repeatedly teaching children about personal hygiene.

Bedden told reporters in Augusta that many parents have called his office, worried their children might get a deadly disease. But he stressed that the staph, called MRSA, is very treatable.

"We've got some overreaction here," said Bedden. "People are treating people like they've got the plague. No child, no person, needs to be treated in that manner. It is treatable. It is manageable if people follow the instructions that are given by the health officials."

Bedden announced that an elementary school student is the fourth person in the Richmond County school system to have MRSA.

Officials in nearby Columbia County say 12 students there have had the infection.

Facilities affected by MRSA in Richmond County

Richmond County school officials have confirmed Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcous Aureus in these facilities:

Blythe Elementary School (1 case)
Glenn Hills Middle School (1)
Richmond County Board of Education administration building (1)

Three in Richmond County diagnosed with staph

Three people in the Richmond County school system have been diagnosed with staph infection, according to school officials in Augusta. Dana Bedden, the school superintendent, says in a letter to parents today that the Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcous Aureus (MRSA) was confirmed in an individual at Glenn Hills Middle School, another at Blythe Elementary School, and a third at the Richmond County Board of Education administration building. The letter did not specify if the individuals were students, teachers or school system staff members. The letter also said that "all students and staff who have confirmed cases of staph infection are expected to remain home until they are able to provide a physician's notice indicating they may return to school and/or work." Custodial staff, meanwhile, are cleaning areas where the infected people might have been. Staph infections can cause serious illness and even death among people with compromised immune systems or who don't get treatment. Serious staph infections are often found in hospitals and other healthcare facilities. Community-based MRSA, the infection reported in Richmond schools, often presents as a simple skin infection. This type of infection is resistant to common antibiotics such as penicillin, but is treatable with other medications. Health officials say community based MRSA is on the rise. Officials in the Columbia County school system say 12 students in nine schools there have been diagnosed with MRSA during the last two weeks. For more information, go to www.rcboe.org or www.cdc.gov.

Columbia County schools with staph

Here's a list of the schools in Columbia County where students have reported having Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), also known as staph infection:

High schools

Evans (2 cases)
Greenbrier (2)
Harlem (1)
Lakeside (1)

Middle schools

Greenbrier (1)
Grovetown (1)
Riverside (1)

Elementary schools

Blue Ridge (1)
Grovetown (1)

For more information about staph infections in Columbia County and how to protect students, visit the school board website at www.ccboe.net . For more information about MRSA, go to www.cdc.gov.

11 staph infections in Columbia County

School officials in eastern Georgia are reporting that 11 students have staph infections. Officials in the Columbia County school system say the students are at nine schools -- elementary, middle and high schools. They say none of the cases are related. The students all have Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an infection resistant to commonly used antibiotics, such as penicillin, but treatable with other antibiotics. The students' infections are also all on their skin, and not considered life-threatening. Reports of the diagnoses have come into the school system over the last two weeks. The Centers for Disease Control typically does not recommend isolation for MRSA, but school officials in Columbia County are requiring students to stay home until their lesions stop oozing. "We want to err on the side of caution," said Dr. Sandra Carraway, a deputy schools superintendent. She says parents and students, though, shouldn't panic, but they should take precautions. "They can help us by encouraging their children not to share their personal items, to wash their p.e. clothes daily, to keep their hands washed, and if they have a wound, just to monitor it to make sure it's healing properly. School officials say they've sanitized classrooms and other areas where the students might have been. For more information, go to www.ccboe.net or www.cdc.gov.

Staph infection reported in Augusta

Another student has been diagnosed with staph infection, this time in east Georgia. The student attends Augusta State University. School officials say the staph is a skin infection on his leg, and that it's not serious. Nationally, health experts say infections are becoming more difficult to treat because they're resistant to penicillin. The disease is called MRSA. "MRSA itself in a wound is not something that should panic the whole community," says Dr. Charlotte Price, chair of Augusta State's nursing department. "We do watch it, though. The thing about MRSA is it is in our community now. At some point it was just primarily patients in the hospitals." MRSA can be treated with antibiotics other than penicillin. A spokeswoman for Augusta State said employees there had cleaned and disinfected the student's classrooms since his diagnosis. For more information about staph infection, how to treat it, and how to protect yourself from it, go to www.cdc.gov.