Fourth staph infection found in Fallbrook schools

By: North County Times | Wednesday, March 12, 2008 12:09 AM PDT ∞

FALLBROOK -- Two more cases of drug-resistant staph infection have surfaced at an elementary school in Fallbrook, bringing to four the number of infections found among Fallbrook Union Elementary School District students in recent weeks.

The two newest confirmed cases were both diagnosed as skin infections on students attending Frazier Elementary School.

Previous cases include one at La Paloma Elementary and one at Potter Junior High School. A wrestling coach at Fallbrook High School also came down with an acute case and was hospitalized in January.

The infection, known as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or "MRSA," was dubbed "the cockroach of infections" by the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in November.

It can be lethal, as it was in the case of an Encinitas boy who died of an infection in January, but the cases in Fallbrook's schools have not been life-threatening.

Staph infection causes a variety of skin problems, including sores that look and feel like spider bites, boils or fluid-filled blisters, and is often transmitted through skin-to-skin contact with infected individuals.

As for sterilizing campuses, certain disinfectants have been certified by the Environmental Protection Agency as effective in fighting the infection.

Assistant superintendent Jim Whitlock said Tuesday that the district has purchased enough of one such disinfectant to treat all of its schools every night for the rest of the school year.

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