Staph Outbreak Results in Student Death

BEDFORD, Va. — More than 21 Virginia schools were closed for cleaning following the death of a high school student from an antibiotic-resistant staph infection.

Ashton Bonds, 17, a senior at Staunton River High School, died on Oct. 15 after a bout with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. Bonds was hospitalized for more than a week before he succumbed to the infection.

In response to the tragedy, students launched a protest using text messages and social networking sites to raise awareness among school officials of the school’s unsanitary conditions, particularly in locker rooms.

Staunton River, along with 20 other area schools, was closed for one day for sanitization following the protest.

In recent weeks, staph infections have spread through schools across the United States , according to health officials. MRSA, a particularly serious strain of staphylococcus that cannot be treated with penicillin or other related antibiotics, is spread by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person.

Communal areas, such as gyms and locker rooms, where many athletes share sports equipment, are high-risk areas for staph infections. Athletes with cuts or abrasions are at a higher risk of contracting an infection.

MRSA caused nearly 94,000 infections and 19,000 deaths in 2005, according to a recent study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Early symptoms are small red bumps resembling pimples, boils or spider bites, according to the Mayo Clinic’s Web site. The bumps can quickly become deep abscesses that require surgical draining. In extreme cases, bacteria can penetrate through the skin to cause potentially life-threatening infections in bones, joints, heart valves and lungs.

In Bonds’ case, doctors say the infection spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and muscles around the heart. Surgery to drain the lung infection was canceled due to an inoperable blood clot near his heart, according to reports.

Other states, including Pennsylvania, Florida, West Virginia and Maryland, have reported cases of MRSA infection and are taking measures to curb further outbreak.

Pittsburgh area schools were scrubbed down after several students in the Armstrong, Connellsville and Bullskin Township school districts were diagnosed in October with MRSA.

Nine football players at West Virginia State University tested positive for MRSA, according to reports. Players reported spots that looked like spider bites on their skin.

To combat the spread of bacteria, the school’s weight room and locker room were closed and cleaned. Athletics officials are thoroughly cleaning all athletes’ cuts and abrasions to prevent more cases.

A student at Florida Atlantic University was diagnosed with an antibiotic-resistant skin infection. University officials immediately sanitized the space where the student worked and have reported no further incidents.

In neighboring Maryland, more than two dozen staph infections were reported by four Anne Arundel County high schools since September.