Surrounded by the Staph Infection!
By anniepa
@anniepa (27955)
United States
October 24, 2007 5:46pm CST
Right now my local school districts are literally surrounded by confirmed cases of the dangerous staph infection that's been in the news lately. Most of the confirmed cases have been kids involved in football in one division or another and that's something that really concerns me. They say the easiest way for this disease to be spread is through direct contact and touching towels and other items like that used by someone with the disease. Athletes take showers in the same place, there's always been horseplay in the locker rooms such as snapping each other with towels, etc. Also, they drink from the same containers and obviously - ir IS a contact sport, after all - they touch each other in practice and competition again and again. So, when I heard of the first two area school districts that had confirmed the infection had been found I immediately thought of the snow-ball effect that's bound to happen and I fear it's well on its way. This kid from one team contacts the infection and he's played against a number of other teams from the surrounding area; someone's little brother is on a midget team which plays teams other teams from the region; see what I mean, it's like "you pass it to two friends and they pass it to 2 friends, and so on and so on..." What I wonder is are the school administrators doing enough? I know it's not their fault and there's only so much they CAN do to keep this under control, but are they doing all they can and if they're not what should WE do to protect our own loved ones?
Annie
5 responses
@Benjaminna (300)
• United States
26 Oct 07
Schools are like any other public facility. A lot of people pass through them and it's really difficult to keep them clean and sanitized.
The best thing you can do to help protect yourself and your love ones is practice good hygiene. If they get a scrape - clean it well and put some Neosporin and a bandage on it, and keep an eye on it. If it starts to look red or abnormal - see a doctor right away. Another thing is to always wash your hands several times a day, don't drink after anyone - bring your own water bottle if necessary.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
26 Oct 07
We've all been washing our hands like crazy and taking those little bottles of hand sanitizer with us wherever we go. Both my grandkids have always been real sticklers for not drinking after anyone, even their own family members, and I'm glad! I worry about this especially because my daughter has Crohn's disease so her immune system is weak and also I stay with my mom who is almost 91. It's the very young, the very old, and the one with poor immune systems who are most at risk with infections like this so it is worrisome. Since I started this discussion there have been several other schools in our area where there have been confirmed cases.
Annie
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
24 Oct 07
It has been in my area for awhile now, anniepa, and at first they were closing down the schools. Now it is back to business as usual, it seems. They are now saying that the schools have been sanitized and that is enough. How in the world can it be enough when this infection is spread by contact? I think they just don't want to lose any more days because they lost some due to the heat when school started back(too early) in the fall. We can only hope and pray that we will have a "killing frost" as soon as possible.
1 person likes this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
25 Oct 07
That's for sure they start school much too early in the fall, or actually it's still the middle of summer when they start these days! I remember when I was in school we never started until after Labor Day. It sure makes me angry to think that money is more important than our children's health. As you said, this is spread by contact and there's no way you can keep kids from having contact with each other in school short of putting them in protective clothing like a bunch of little space-men.
Annie
@reinydawn (11643)
• United States
25 Oct 07
I'm very fortunate. The personal-care and cleaning products I use have a pharmaceutical grade of tea-tree oil in them. Tea-tree oil kills bacteria - staph in particular - ON CONTACT. I'm never without the stuff, and am washing my hands a bit more often than usual now.
1 person likes this
@bestisyettocome (1531)
• United States
25 Oct 07
Annie,
Wow! I know of at least 3 cases at my daughter's high school! And one of them is a football player! Why doesn't the health department check into stuff like this? I don't think that our school even has a nurse. I'm terrified that my daughter will come home with it!
1 person likes this
@evilshenanigansaz (42)
• United States
26 Oct 07
Staph infection is pretty nasty. A close friend of mine just spent a week in the hospital because he got it in his arm. His arm was swelled up to twice its normal size - ugh! What happened was he was at a bar and fell (after a few drinks), scraping his arm on the floor. Rather than clean it, he just stayed there and kept drinking. A few days later, he was in the ER. Thankfully he recovered, but it was a pretty scary experience.
This strain of Staph called MRSA is especially dangerous. Like most living organisms, it has evolved. Unfortunately, it has evolved the ability to resist traditional antibiotics and disinfectants. Any place that you would normall find germs, bacteria, or viruses (such as restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and gyms) can be infected with MRSA. There is a disinfectant called Agion SilverClene 24 that uses a unique chemical composition to actually kill MRSA, but is non-toxic. We just started carrying it yesterday. I have not tried it myself yet, but I hear it works pretty well.
To help stop the spread of MRSA and other strains of staph, schools should use this disinfectant. I intend to contact the schools here in Arizona about it. Our website is http://www.activeforever.com if you want to read about it.
Has anyone heard of any other products that help stop the spread of MRSA? We are looking for other options besides SilverClene.
