La Joya student diagnosed with Staph bacteria

LA JOYA — An eighth-grade female student at Ann Richards Middle School has been diagnosed with the antibiotic-resistant staph strain national health officials issued an alarm about last week.

The La Joya school district’s head nurse received a confirmation from Mission Regional Medical Center on Monday that the student was infected with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

District leaders sent letters to parents notifying them of the infection, according to a school news release.

The infected student had been out of school since Oct. 17 and is undergoing treatment.

Extra custodial staff has been dispatched to the Ann Richards campus, in Palmview, to disinfect the building. The disinfection was expected to be completed Monday evening.

Classes were set to resume as normal today, according to the district release.

A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association last week said MRSA — a staph bacteria strain resistant to some antibiotics — is more prevalent than previously believed. And infections from the bacteria, once largely confined to healthcare facilities, are increasingly occurring outside those facilities. Some local doctors went as far as to say MRSA is at an epidemic proportion.

MRSA infected an estimated 94,360 people in the United States in 2005, according to the study. Such infections can be mild, causing pimples or boils that can be swollen, painful and drain pus, according to the national Center for Disease Control.

MRSA is not a reportable disease in Texas, which means that doctors are not required to notify the state if a patient is diagnosed with the illness, according to Eduardo Olivarez, chief administrative officer of the Hidalgo County Health Department.

“I wish it was,” Olivarez said.

Though staph infections are not common in the area, they're not rare, Olivarez said. In schools, the bacteria that causes the illness has been found on athletic equipment, uniforms, towels and other objects, he said.

La Joya school officials encourage anyone with questions to call the public information office at (956) 580-6025.

____

Jennifer L. Berghom covers education and general assignments at The Monitor. She can be reached at (956) 683-4462.