Sommer Woodward
Sommer Woodward
Staff Writer
Two more Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) cases were discovered in Mayes County children this week.
Chouteau schools were notified Monday a child had MRSA, but the wound had healed and the student was back in school.
Salina Elementary was
contacted by the Mayes County Health Department about a
possible case of MRSA, also known as “staph.”
Staph has historically been found in hospital settings, but within the last 10 years has been increasingly common in the
community.
Chouteau Superintendent Tom Turner said by the time the doctor notified the school of the MRSA case, the student was fine.
But Chouteau is continuing to to take precautions like handwashing to protect other students.
The Salina student’s mother noticed a red bump on her
aughter’s hip Saturday and visited a local doctor Monday.
The mother, who wished to withhold her name to protect her daughter, said the doctor took one look at the sore and said “you’re not going to tell anybody at your school you have this, right.”
The mom said if the doctor told her that, then other people were being told and someone needed to know. She called the health department to report the MRSA case.
“I was just worried about another kid getting it,” she said.
The girl was given an oral antibiotic and instructions on how to prevent further spreading of the infection. If the infection didn’t improve, the girl was to return to the doctor.
A small square bandage was placed over the wound, but by noon on Tuesday, the infected area was three inches outside of the bandage.
The girl’s mother took her to St. Francis Hospital, where the wound was cut open, drained and medicated bandages were packed in the wound.
She must return to the hospital Thursday to have the bandages replaced.
“I wouldn’t have wished that on my worst enemy,” she said about the pain her daughter suffered through having the sore cut open.
She said the local doctor told her hospitals see MRSA all the time and “everybody’s overreacting.”
“If this many people have got it, we need to overreact,” she said.
Salina Elementary has been taking precautions against the spread of the disease for two or three weeks as a result of reports of MRSA in Oklahoma.
“We try to take every
precaution we can with our little ones,” said Salina Elementary Principal Marie Holleyman.
Holleyman said the school has already been using precautions like handwashing, sanitizer and cleaning desks with bleach water. Custodians are disinfecting door knobs and washing water fountains more frequently. School nurses are making sure anyone with a cut covers the wound with a bandaid.
Holleyman hasn’t spoken with the parent of the child, but did speak with the health department about a possible infection and requested additional
information on cleaning procedures.
Students in the lunch line have been using hand sanitizer for years, but Holleyman is going over the information from the health department to see if anything else can be done to protect the children.
The biggest defense against the spread of MRSA is proper handwashing.
“Prevention is key,” said Kelli Rader, State Health Department. “Washing hands is very important and if someone has an open wound, see a physician, have a diagnosis and treat it appropriately.”
Integris Mayes County Medical Center is taking innovative precautions to prevent the spread of MRSA by using an active surveillance culture program.
“We realize how important it is for health care providers to know if a patient is carrying MRSA, so specimens will be collected for MRSA tests,” said Sue Sutley, R.N., Infection Control Officer at the
hospital.
A nasal swab is collected from patients upon entering the hospital. If the test returns positive for MRSA, Sutley said the patient will be placed in “contact isolation so that we can prevent the spread of MRSA to other patients.
Hospitals across the nation have been looking at how to prevent the spread of MRSA for years and all Integris hospitals will be participating in the program.
“Integris decided we need to be thinking about our patients,” said Sutley.
Treatment for MRSA varies widely from patient to patient. Factors such as how the patient responds to antibiotics and how bad the infection is determine the treatment.
According to the State Health Department’s Web site, in some cases of blood stream infections and pneumonia, patients are given intravenous antibiotics, but not antibiotics to which the strain is
resistant.
Persons with skin infections can be treated with incision and drainage, but the drainage must be managed to keep it contained. Antibiotics may be used in some instances of skin infection.
The health department recommends proper handwashing, keeping cuts and scrapes clean and covered, avoiding contact with
people’s wounds or dirty bandages, avoid sharing personal items like towels and razors and showering and bathing regularly, especially after contact sports.
Cleaning supplies should have Staphylococcus aureus listed on the label to disinfect surfaces.
People who suspect they’ve contracted MRSA, should see their doctor immediately.
