MRSA makes debut at MT

Second Place

News Story

Division 2

MRSA makes debut at MT

Molly Stieber

Grade 12

Hi-Lite

Manheim Townships HS

Adviser: Marty Pflieger

On November 2, 2007, the Manheim Township district Web site posted a report stating that one of its students was recently diagnosed with MRSA.

Panic spread like the disease itself through the community as the rumors began.

MRSA (pronounced ‘Mursa’) stands for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus.

A typical staph infection is simply an infection on the skin that is usually treated with penicillin or methicillin. MRSA is resistant to methicillin meaning it can not be cured by that antibiotic.

According to an entry in “The Journal of Lancaster General Hospital” by Dr. Joseph M. Kontra M.D. from the Infection Specialists of Lancaster branch, prior to 2005 there only appeared to be a trace of a disease known as HA-MRSA, meaning Health-Associated MRSA, in Lancaster County.

This disease was an epidemic mainly confined to hospital areas such as nursing homes, hospitals, and other areas of that nature.

However, in 2005 a new disease appeared, now referred to as CA-MRSA, or Community-Acquired MRSA.

HA-MRSA never seemed to pose a threat to the community, but CA-MRSA was a different story.

According to Kontra, by 2007 the number of CA-MRSA cases at Lancaster General Hospital was almost 8 times that of the HA-MRSA cases with a ratio of 359:45.

Therefore, CA-MRSA is the one to be most concerned about.

CA-MRSA can be contracted in many ways. It is first and foremost a disease on the skin. It is spread through contact sports (mainly football and wrestling), turf burns, common whirlpools and sharing equipment.

Principal David Hanna stated that the school is paying more attention to the cleaning of shared facilities such as locker rooms and bathrooms.

“Our trainer, physical education department and nurses have all been in communication with each other [concerning the MRSA issue],” Hanna said.

“I have not received any phone calls from concerned parents about the MRSA outbreak,” remarked Hanna.

Township’s wrestling coach Mr. Jan Minnich was already aware of this epidemic and ensured that procedures to combat this disease are being put in place.

“[The sport of] wrestling has battled skin infections for decades. Ringworm is the most common infection and while it is not fatal, it is still an itchy nuisance,” said Minnich.

“We have brand new wrestling mats that include and agent in them that retards the growth of bacteria.”

“We also have mandatory show baths as you enter the wrestling room. We hope for these routines of cleanliness to become second nature to everyone,” Minnich emphasized.

“Early prevention is key,” said Minnich in his final statement.

It was not a rumor when you heard that CA-MRSA could be fatal. If CA-MRSA has a deeper invasion through your skin and into your blood stream the symptoms worsen and it may then become fatal.

Still, there is no need to panic. Manheim Township School Nurse Rene Lamp expressed encouraging thoughts on the situation.

“We always follow something that we call standard precautions,” said Lamp.

“If a student comes in with an infection we don’t have the ability to diagnose it as a staph infection.”

“The student diagnosed with MRSA was a little boy who decided to tell his teachers and classmates that he has the disease but he has been medically treated and has already returned to school,” Lamp stated.

When answering the question if there were any antibiotics that were affective when treating MRSA Lamp said, “There are several. One in particular is called vancomycin, however, hospitals avoid using it unless it is necessary because it is very expensive.”

It is important to state that according to Dr. Kontra, even newer strains of MRSA show to be resistant to even vancomycin. Kontra agrees with Lamp in stating prevention of MRSA comes from hand hygiene and wound care, frequent hand washing, and a limit to the sharing of equipment and towels.

In a closing paragraph in his entry, Kontra states that “the CA-MRSA epidemic is upon us, and is here to stay.”

Whether it is CA-MRSA or the common influenza, help prevent this epidemic by following simple hygienic rules and passing your knowledge on to others.

In the end, education on this MRSA is the best form of prevention.