School officials from Buchanan High School sent an email Tuesday evening to parents alerting them of a student who may potentially be afflicted by a MRSA bacterial infection.
In the letter, principal Stacey DeMaio makes it clear that the student has not been officially diagnosed with the illness, but the school wants to take measures to prevent a potential outbreak. She also explains that the school is taking extra care to sanitize high volume, common areas where students gather.
“This is precautionary,” said Buchanan Superintendent Andrea van der Laan. “We are making sure locker rooms and places like that are clean. We are trying to be proactive, because we also have a lot of [students and staff] with flu-like symptoms.”
The parents of the student have voluntarily excluded them from school, van der Laan said.
In addition to regular cleaning and extra sanitization, the school has posted information about MRSA in athletic settings around the school, which includes guidelines for prevention, according to the letter.
A list of prevention guidelines was included in the email to parents. MRSA may infect different parts of the body, including surgical wounds, burns, catheter sites, eyes, skin and blood, according to the supplemental guidelines from the New York State Health Department. Symptoms are broad and include redness, swelling and tenderness at the site of infection. Carefully washing one’s hands is the most effective way to prevent the spread of MRSA.
Van der Laan suggests that parents concerned their child may be exhibiting signs of infection visit their physician immediately.
“If [parents] are worried [about their child], they need to see the doctor, but they should also let [the school] know,” van der Laan said. “It is going to take everyone to make sure kids are not catching things [illnesses] from each other.”