EFFINGHAM — The Effingham County Health Department and area schools confirmed this week that lab tests have verified six cases of an antibiotic-resistant staph infection in students at two county schools.

    Effingham Unit 40, which had five of the six reported cases at its high school and junior high, mailed out letters to parents this week, clueing them in on the infection, commonly referred to as MRSA and giving pointers on preventative measures. The letters were on health department letterhead and signed by School Health Coordinator and Registered Nurse Tammie Sims.

    Altamont Unit 10 School District also confirmed one student case, though Superintendent Jeff Fritchtnitch declined to comment Thursday on which of the district’s two schools the affected student attends.

    Still, Effingham County Public Health Administrator Kim Esker called the number of cases “relatively low,” and the letter sent home to parents of students at Effingham High School, Junior High, and Central Grade School read, in part, “every year schools have some confirmed cases of MRSA.”

    MRSA is is a staph bacterium that is resistant to some antibiotics. When present as an infection in the skin, as with the student cases, MRSA can cause wounds that are difficult to heal and may become swollen and painful, often involving pus or other drainage, according to the health department. The U.S. Center for Disease Control reports the infections are often first mistaken for spider bites.   

    The infection can be contracted through skin-on-skin contact with wounds caused by MRSA, putting athletes in high-contact sports like football and wrestling at a higher risk than players of other sports, according to the CDC. But other athletes also are at risk of becoming infected either on the sidelines or in the locker room, where shared towels, uniforms and equipment — even surfaces like lockers and benches — can transfer the bacteria.

    This week’s letters to Unit 40 parents came more than a month after Superintendent Dan Clasby first reported two EHS football players had contracted the infection. At that time, the district was made a concerted effort to sanitize the players’ locker rooms. Since then, a third player was added to the list of confirmed cases, making for a total of three MRSA infections at the high school.

    The school district’s other two cases were found at the junior high, where lab tests confirmed the bacterium’s presence in two students — one of whom is not an athlete.

    However, health care providers are not required to report confirmed or suspected cases of MRSA to the health department, Esker said Thursday, so the countywide six-student tally could be an incomplete picture of the situation.

    Regardless of the true number of cases, Unit 40 has taken its efforts to fight the MRSA infection districtwide, with all schools using EPA-approved cleaners that kill the bacteria throughout the buildings — not just in sports locker rooms — according to information provided by the superintendent’s office Thursday.   

    In Altamont, where the sixth student case was confirmed, Superintendent Jeff Fritchtnitch said Thursday his school already had extensive sanitizing practices in place even before they were notified of the MRSA infection of one district student. Those practices include cleaning computer keyboards with disinfecting wipes after every use to prevent the skin-to-skin contact that could spread, not only MRSA, but other illnesses as simple as the common cold, he said.

    Unit 10 has not sent letters to parents about MRSA and has no plans to do so unless it becomes clear the district’s one confirmed infection is not an isolated occurrence, Fritchtnitch said.

    “When you have only one confirmed ... we don’t want to send something out and get everyone panicking,” he said. “We’re hoping we don’t have a problem, but if we do, we’ll manage it.”

    At EHS,     Athletic Director David Woltman said Thursday the cases are no longer an issue for the football team, downplaying the effect they had on the team in the first place and reporting all the players are back in uniform and on the field.

    The infection did not sideline any players for very long. When the Effingham Daily News first reported the infection in its Aug. 21 issue, one of the players was already back at practice with a note from his doctor and precautions were in place, including use of bandages to protect other players from skin-to-skin contact that could spread the infection.

    Amanda King can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 138 or amanda.king@effinghamdailynews.com.