District Takes Precautions After Student Contracts MRSA

Cranford School Superintendent Gayle Carrick announced that the district has taken steps to disinfect schools after a Walnut Avenue School student was diagnosed with MRSA, a skin staph infection resistant to certain antibiotics.

In a letter posted on the Board of Education Web site on March 4, Carrick added that the student is currently at home, under a physician's care. The ailing student, who remains out of school while being treated, has a sibling who attends Cranford High School. The sibling is in good health.

"There is no cause for alarm. The Cranford Board of Education is taking precautionary measures to inform parents, staff and students of this situation," Carrick wrote, adding that the Cranford Board of Education custodial staff "immediately and thoroughly cleaned, with a medically advised disinfectant, all areas and surfaces that are involved."

The district sanitized Walnut Avenue School just in case, according to Cranford Board of Education President Mary Venditti.

"Nothing else has happened. There are no more cases. It’s all precautionary," Venditti said. "As far as we know, everyone is healthy and there are no reports of any more problems."

In the letter, Carrick added that the school district physician advised good hygiene as the best way to prevent the spread of staph, recommending that students and staff wash their hands frequently and use the hand sanitizer Purell.

MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a type of bacteria that most commonly appear as skin infections in people in the form of pustules or boils, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. 

The bacteria is resistant to the type of antibiotics known as beta-lactams – methicillin and commonly prescribed medications including oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin.

As with all staph infections, MRSA is spread via skin-to-skin contact and through personal items, such as towels, bandages or razors, that have been used by an infected person. The germ is most likely spread in settings such as schools, particularly in locker rooms.

The neighboring Clark-Garwood school district also informed parents of the potential danger of MRSA on March 7 with a similar letter from Superintendent Kenneth J. Knops.

"While there are no cases of MRSA currently diagnosed in the Clark School District, we want to assume a proactive stance in assuring that we as a school district take every effort to maintain a clean and safe school environment. Toward that end, I have requested that our custodial staff thoroughly clean, with a medically advised disinfectant, all areas and surfaces that students might come in contact with," Knops wrote, adding that this includes sinks, water fountains, desks and cafeteria tables.