Parents Notified About Infection

SEBRING - Superintendent Wally Cox said Friday that "very few" students have contracted the staph infection, but he did not know the exact number or what schools the students attended.

A district office secretary said reports of 10 infected students at one school is not even close to being true.

Students received a letter in school Friday, to be taken home to their parents, about the staph infection.

The letter is signed by Highlands County Health Department Director Dr. Paula Thaqi and Highlands County Superintendents of School Wally Cox.

The letter states, "due to the recent media coverage of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA), the Highlands County Health Department and Highlands County School Board are taking the opportunity to provide you with information about MRSA and basic measures that can prevent the spread of MRSA, as well as influenza and other diseases."

Due to the association between infection and close skin-to-skin contact, many cases of community-acquired MRSA are seen in school-aged students, especially athletes in close contact sports, according to the letter. MRSA and staphylococcus infections can be easily prevented by using good hygiene.

Community-acquired MRSA most often presents as a skin or soft tissue infection, such as a boil or abscess, which patients frequently mistake for a spider bite, the letter reports. The affected area is red, swollen and painful and may have pus or other drainage.

Additional information is available by calling the Highlands County Health Department Epidemiologist at 382-7224.