Minimizing the Risks of MRSA

9/4/2008

As children return to Central Valley School District classrooms, the district continues to be vigilent about drug-resistant staph infection (MRSA).

What is MRSA?
MRSA is a staph bacteria which often causes skin infections and is resistant to common antibiotics, including penicillin. MRSA is the acronym for Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus. It has been present in the U.S. healthcare system since the late 1960s.

What is Central Valley doing to guard against MRSA?
In addition to our ongoing “universal precautions,” (see below) we are continuing our efforts to guard against this drug-resistant staph infection. With a focus on the cleaning, disinfecting and education in our schools, the following additional measures continue: 

• Reminding our school custodians about the importance of daily cleaning of surfaces in the common areas of schools using approved disinfectants. 
• Reminding teachers to emphasize the importance of hand washing to students and to model proper personal hygiene practices themselves
• Providing two products for classroom use:
  • Easy-to-use disinfectant wipes for teachers to use to clean classroom surfaces.
    • Clean common surfaces in classrooms such as doorknobs, light switches, keyboards, counters and other surfaces each day.
    • The Central Valley Education Association is supportive of this preventive measure.
    • It is important that schools and staff use only the wipes supplied by the district. Please do not bring in your own wipes, as they may cause an allergic or asthmatic reaction in some students!
  • Pump bottles of approved hand sanitizer for classroom use to supplement hand washing.
• Ensuring our school nurses are informed and support school staff in remaining vigilant about students with skin wounds
• Ensuring the proper MSDS sheets (Material Safety Data Sheet) are in place in each building for each cleaner being used
• Installing wall-mounted hand sanitizer dispensers in common areas of schools (upon Principal request, only) A reminder to follow-up with hand washing should be posted next to these dispensers. 
• Providing our bus drivers with appropriate disinfectant cleaners to use on surfaces in their school buses

What are the “universal precautions” used daily in Central Valley schools?
All Central Valley employees are encouraged to continue taking “universal precautions” to create a healthy environment for students and staff. This includes:

• Ongoing, repetitive education about the importance of proper hand washing - wash often in warm, soapy water for at least 20 seconds. We are in the process of posting (or re-posting) hand washing posters above every sink in the district.
• Isolating students who may be a risk to others (from any infectious illness including “staph”) in the school health room until they are sent home, as necessary
• Ongoing vigilance and reporting of any infected skin/wounds to your school nurse
  

Appropriate school staff also take universal precautions by:

• Ensuring students are no longer contagious before they are allowed back at school 
• Covering wounds and other potentially infectious situations
  

How do you get MRSA?

• Generally skin-to-skin contact or direct contact with the MRSA-infected skin/wound drainage
• Touching surfaces that have MRSA on them, like doorknobs, light switches and keyboards
• Sharing sports equipment
• Sharing personal hygiene items (bar soap, towels, razors)
• MRSA skin infections are NOT spread through the air

What do MRSA infections look like?
Often, like a spider bite, a boil, abscess or turf burn

How can MRSA be prevented?

• Wash your hands often with warm, soapy water (hand washing cannot be overemphasized!)
• Use 60% alcohol-based hand gel when soap and water are not available
• Report skin infections to the school nurse
• Shower immediately after physical education class
• Do not share personal hygiene items, athletic equipment or clothing
• Avoid contact with other people’s skin infections
• Cover all wounds with a clean, dry bandage taped on all four sides
• Wipe down shared desks, keyboards, phones and light switches regularly

Online Resources:

• Tacoma Pierce County Health Department has an excellent website with lots of MRSA information on the home page @ www.tpchd.org
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: www.cdc.gov

If you have any questions, please contact your school prinicpal or district representatives, as listed below:

• Cheryl Sampson, Nurse Supervisor at 228-5522
• Brad Wayland, Director of Facilities and Operations at 228-5411
• Melanie Rose, Public Information Officer at 228-5405

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