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County shuts school system over 'superbug' (23 schools in KY)
Associated Press (with MSNBC) ^ | October 28, 2007

Posted on 10/28/2007 2:04:36 PM PDT by yorkie

An eastern Kentucky school district with one confirmed case of antibiotic-resistant staph infection plans to shut down all 23 of its schools Monday, affecting about 10,300 students, to disinfect the facilities.

The project will involve disinfecting classrooms, restrooms, cafeterias, hallways, locker rooms, buses and even external areas such as playgrounds and sports fields, said Roger Wagner, superintendent of Pike County schools.

"We're not closing schools because there's been a large number of breakouts, but as a preventive measure," Wagner said.

One Pike County student was diagnosed with in September with MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. The bacterial strain can be treated with other antibiotics, but without treatment it can be deadly.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: Kentucky
KEYWORDS: epidemiology; mrsa; publichealth; superbugs

1 posted on 10/28/2007 2:04:39 PM PDT by yorkie
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To: yorkie
The bacterial strain can be treated with other antibiotics,
but without treatment it can be deadly.


I'm NOT an MD; don't even play one on TV.

But having kept my leg after a cellulitis bout in 1993...
I'd say the bolded text above is key.

My INEXPERT thought from having four recurrences of cellulitis over
nearly 15 years:
Get a rash that's hotter than the surrounding skin, maybe with
muscular aches and fever...well, at least SPEAKING ONLY FOR MYSELF...
that's a sign to get to the doctor's office or ER.
2 posted on 10/28/2007 2:12:59 PM PDT by VOA
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To: VOA

I’m not sure what good it does to shut down schools and “disinfect” them.
Once the doors are re-opened and all the people return to the building, by the end of the 1st day all the regular germs, viruses and bacteria are back again.


3 posted on 10/28/2007 2:15:01 PM PDT by Scotswife
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To: Scotswife
I’m not sure what good it does to shut down schools and “disinfect” them.

Amongst all the other professions I don't play on TV, I'm also
not an epidemiologist or public health advisor.

Closing all 23 schools on a school day sounds like a number of
factors coming together:

1. The school district's lawyers said "Do it or run the risk of
a potential lawsuit...or class-action lawsuit if more than one
child gets MRSA. Or their parents are traumatized by the POSSIBILITY
of a bogey-man in their kids' school."

2. Probably an extra day off for unionized teachers (and no
need to "make up" because it's an "emergency")

But...if what happens in Mid-Missouri during an unscheduled
half-day off due to a September heat-wave (because not all
schools have A/C is any indicator...
a lot of parents will be ticked when they need to find out
"who the h-ll is taking care of our kids if the school is closed?"
4 posted on 10/28/2007 2:22:57 PM PDT by VOA
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To: Scotswife

Yeah....it’s ON THE PEOPLE, isn’t it?


5 posted on 10/28/2007 2:23:24 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character! Being Coddled Destroys Character!)
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To: goodnesswins
>>I’m not sure what good it does to shut down schools and “disinfect” them.<< The objective should be to hire a cleaning team that will keep them clean every day.
6 posted on 10/28/2007 2:25:44 PM PDT by yorkie
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To: goodnesswins

It is carried in their noses. They are wasting time and money. Over reaction. This has been going on for years. I saw 2 cases last week. It is getting very common and is everywhere.


7 posted on 10/28/2007 2:28:09 PM PDT by therut
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To: therut

Exactly, it is a media created frenzy....

Parents in our area were hysterical because the media reported on one case of viral meningitis and that child had recovered and was back in school by the time they got a hold of the story....


8 posted on 10/28/2007 2:41:45 PM PDT by Kimmers
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To: yorkie
Cold War Weaponry To Tackle Superbugs (UK)
9 posted on 10/28/2007 3:16:21 PM PDT by blam (Secure the border and enforce the law)
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To: blam; Kimmers; therut

Thanks, blam. Sometimes the titles are so different, that they don’t match up on ‘search’.

And, Kimmers, I don’t believe it is a ‘media-created frenzy’. When I was diagnosed, the doc told me it is reaching epidemic proportions, and can be found (and picked up) everywhere.

Therut, yes, you are right. It is carried in the nose. It can also be contacted by skin to skin or skin to surface.


10 posted on 10/28/2007 3:25:42 PM PDT by yorkie
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To: yorkie

Must be related to last week’s Virginia shut down - 21 schools.


11 posted on 10/28/2007 3:42:50 PM PDT by PetroniusMaximus
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To: VOA

Had a paper cut that caused my index finger to swell, surface was very warm within three days. Went to doctor, and he gave me a tetnus booster shot and anti biotic for MRSA. I did not get my anti biotics till three hours later, by then the swelling on my finger started to ebb (I could start bending it to a 45 degree angle). Still took my anti biotics, but the more I thought about it, probably was tetnus. Lesson, if you are in your late 40’s have the doctor check your med records for when you had your last shot or booster for tetnus. For me it was over 20 years ago when I got a booster while I was in the Army. Those boosters do wear out within 20 plus years.


12 posted on 10/28/2007 4:56:25 PM PDT by Fee (An American empire can only be built by leaders with the stomach of Romans.)
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To: Fee

Good to hear it worked out...whether you had MRSA and/or tetanus.

Having had a bad enough case of cellulitis that when I got up out of
bed, it felt like a million little needles penetrating my leg...

AND

Having read about the long, lingering death of David Thoreau’s brother
by tetanus....

Neither one is a preferred “way to go”!


13 posted on 10/28/2007 6:36:44 PM PDT by VOA
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To: VOA

MRSA is a problem we have been dealing with in my area for the last 5 years. The only thing that has changed is that it is the “shark bite” story of 2007.

You are much more likely to die driving your car than from MRSA. In fact if you are not already critically ill from another disease, you are probably more likely to die from a lightening strike or slipping in your tub.


14 posted on 10/28/2007 7:03:02 PM PDT by dangerdoc (dangerdoc (not actually dangerous any more))
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To: goodnesswins

“Yeah....it’s ON THE PEOPLE, isn’t it?”

I’ve been watching doctors state on our local news the past few days that this is “skin-to-skin”

The schools, however, are being advised to keep surfaces clean.

Somebody somewhere is giving out wrong info,


15 posted on 10/28/2007 7:31:21 PM PDT by Scotswife
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To: Scotswife

Well WebMD says skin to skin contact.....here’s some interesting info....

http://www.webmd.com/skin-problems-and-treatments/understanding-mrsa-methicillin-resistant-staphylococcus-aureus


16 posted on 10/28/2007 8:07:25 PM PDT by goodnesswins (Being Challenged Builds Character! Being Coddled Destroys Character!)
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To: goodnesswins
MRSA is spread by contact. So you could get MRSA by touching another person who has it on the skin. Or you could get it by touching objects that have the bacteria on them. MRSA is carried, or "colonized," by about 1% of the population, although most of them aren't infected.

That quote is from the WebMD link.

I don't think disinfecting the schools is doing any good at all. Perhaps, they are thinking they have to be seen doing something.

17 posted on 10/28/2007 9:05:10 PM PDT by Dianna
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To: goodnesswins
A couple of weeks ago at my daughter's highschool, a girl got a sore on her leg. It was really bothering her and she took off the bandaid to show her friends. A couple of concerned female friends (*not* my daughter, thank goodness!) were touching the wound, remarking that it was warm. It turned out to be MRSA.

Kids are dumb and fearless. They'll come up with things that we can't even imagine, let alone prevent.

18 posted on 10/28/2007 9:21:42 PM PDT by Marie (Unintended consequences.)
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To: Dianna
I don't think disinfecting the schools is doing any good at all.

Sure doesn't hurt anything!

19 posted on 10/28/2007 9:23:25 PM PDT by Marie (Unintended consequences.)
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