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LISD administration keeps tabs on staph

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Outbreaks of the skin infection in Round Rock has LISD staff on alert


Drug-resistant staph has been a hot topic in Central Texas in recent weeks, with infections reported in several area school districts, including Lake Travis, Austin and Round Rock independent school districts.

In late October, Lake Travis High School informed parents that two of its students had the infection. Several members of the Round Rock High School football team were diagnosed with staph (of some type) earlier in the month. Concern about drug-resistant staph recently prompted Saint Martin de Porres Catholic Church in Dripping Springs to change the way it dispenses holy water.

It should be no surprise that Leander Independent School District has found cases of the infection as well. Approximately 30 percent of the population carry staph on their skin. A small percentage of those people have the drug-resistant variety.

Drug-resistant staph, also known as MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) has actually been around for decades. It was discovered in 1961, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Since then, MRSA has typically been a concern in hospitals. Recently, MRSA has begun to spread in communities, outside the hospital setting.

“We have had several cases, but it is a very small percentage of the student population,” said Sandy Headley, RN, safety and health coordinator for Leander ISD. She estimates that 0.14 percent of LISD students have had drug-resistant staph.

LISD is working to make people aware of the MRSA problem, to help keep it from spreading, she said.

The main way of contacting staph is through direct, skin-to-skin contact, so one of the best ways to stop its spread is through good handwashing, with soap - not antibacterial products.

“We recommend good old-fashioned soap and water,” Headley said. “If you can't do that, alcohol-based gel, with 62 percent alcohol, is a good substitute.” It is especially important to wash hands after a sneeze, because staph often lives in nasal cavities.

Wash your hands for at least 30 seconds, Headley said. “We teach the little kids to sing their ABCs while they wash.”

It might seem counterintuitive, but LISD does not recommend using antibacterial soap. In fact, said Headley, antibacterial products can make a MRSA infection more likely and may have helped the bacteria proliferate in the first place.

By actually killing germs, rather than simply removing them from the skin, antibacterial products are thought to create “superbugs,” among the bacteria that are left behind.

“We are not in favor of antibacterial products,” said Headley. “They can actually increase the chance of getting MRSA.” Studies have also shown that triclosan in antibacterial products can lead to asthma in children, she said. “It's doing more harm than good.”

Drug-resistant bacteria are also produced when people use antibiotics incorrectly, Headley said. Those who take only part of a prescription, who take the wrong antibiotic for their infection, or who take antibiotics when they don't need them (for viral infections, for example), help create superbugs.

LISD has paid special attention to its sports facilities and locker rooms. Athletes, who spend a lot of time in close proximity, are more likely to get staph infections than non-athletes. Sharing items like towels, razors and bars of soap also contributes to the spread of staph. For that reason, LISD's athletes do not use bar soap and share nothing. All LISD locker rooms have liquid soap dispensers, Headley said.

Headley estimates that half of those infected with drug-resistant staph in the district are athletes. Most of the non-athletes got the infection from hospitals. “MRSA is about 66 to 70 percent hospital-acquired,” she said.

LISD keeps tabs on skin infections that could turn out to be staph, Headley said. Less than half of the cases in LISD have turned out to be drug-resistant. All have recovered.

“Once we find out a student has MRSA, we don't exclude them, but wounds have to be covered before they go back to school,” Headley said. Athletes with MRSA infections are not allowed to have contact with other athletes until the wound is dry.

The district has been paying especially close attention to staph infections in recent years, because of the increased media attention. School officials are more likely to learn about staph infections - drug-resistant or garden variety - than in years past. “I think it's a good thing that we've had this awareness,” Headley said. “People are thinking more about washing hands.”

Although it is rare to get staph through inanimate objects, LISD also uses bleach to clean objects that many people use, such as doorknobs.

Chicken pox and flu
Another health concern in recent weeks is chicken pox. Round Rock ISD gave out 300 free vaccines for chicken pox on Nov. 13 after at least 40 children in Great Oaks Elementary School came down with the illness. No chicken pox cases have been reported in LISD this year, Headley said. She speculated that the RRISD cases may have resulted from a weak vaccine, since most of the students had been vaccinated.

Although chicken pox is usually a mild disease - one that used to be considered a rite of passage for children in the U.S. - vaccination is now required.

Children in the U.S. typically receive the vaccine on or after their first birthday. They must have received the vaccine before entering kindergarten. A child 13 or up who hasn't been vaccinated for chicken pox must have two vaccines before entering school.

LISD is also on the lookout for influenza. Although the flu is of special concern to the elderly and the very young, Headley recommends people of all ages get vaccinated. “There is no vaccine shortage this year,” she said. “As long as you're not allergic to eggs, you should get the vaccine.”

Headley said the idea that the vaccine can cause the flu is a misconception. “You can get some fever and achiness, but it typically lasts 24 hours,” she said.

That's a far cry from the actual flu, which can last for days and bring high fever. If you do get the flu after being vaccinated, it means you were exposed to the flu before you got the shot, she said.

E-mail charles@hillcountrynews.com

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