Over the last month, Central has fumbled with a health scare involving MRSA. While only two football players had confirmed cases, rumors have since flown around the school, causing many to question the school’s MRSA policy as well as the scariness of the infection.

After hearing rumors circulate around Central, the Central Times decided to investigate and give students the facts about MRSA.

Myth one: The school was not cleaned

Soon after the cases of MRSA became public knowledge, students and staff alike knew that cleaning had to be done. On the weekend directly following the football players’ diagnosis, Central’s custodial staff spent 30 man hours cleaning the downstairs weight room, the upstairs weight room, the locker rooms and the aerobics room, according to Gary Gebauer, facility manager.

“We used sanitizer that is proofed to kill all that stuff, [including MRSA],” Gebauer said, citing that the health department approved all cleaning materials used.

According to Jeannette Harris, supervisor of health services for District 203, the district turns to the DuPage County Health Department for instructions on how to proceed with these communicable diseases such as MRSA.

“We don’t decide on a course of action on our own,” Harris said. “We work closely with the Dupage County Health Department who gives us advice regarding cleaning procedures.”

The Health Department was the main source for a segment run on ABC 7 about two confirmed cases of MRSA at Central on Sept. 21.  Many parents were concerned that the school had not warned them or their children of the infection.  The school responded by sending out an email explaining the situation the following morning.  

Further miscommunication seems to have happened within the physical education department.

“The school nurses know what’s going on and we work closely with people in athletics,” Harris said. However, when P.E. director Neil Duncan was questioned on this by a Central Times reporter, he responded that he had not been informed of anything regarding the MRSA outbreak.

Despite this, all gym facilities were cleaned by the custodial staff multiple times.

“When we hear about [a communicable disease like MRSA], we take it seriously,” Gebauer said.

The biggest health risk right now is gym clothes. Gebauer said that all students should take home the contents of their gym lockers and wash them in an effort to ensure their health.

Myth two: something will happen if more than five students get MRSA

This rumor claims that if there were five or more confirmed cases of MRSA, the school would need to be closed for cleaning or, if all the students were members of the same athletic team, the team would forfeit their season.  

This is not true. No such rule exists in the IHSA, which regulates all school sports, according to IHSA associate executive director Kurt Gibson. As for the school, Central administration communicates with the DuPage County Health Department for any health scares and does not have any strict policies in place regarding school closings.

In 2010 when three students contracted MRSA over spring break, the school was not shut down and similar cleaning procedures took place.

Myth three: more than two students have MRSA

The Central Times independently verified seven students who had MRSA-like symptoms, thought to have been picked up in the lower weight room.

However, it is important to understand that these cases have not been confirmed at the time of print. This means that they either did not have a lab test to confirm their MRSA or the lab test has not come back.  

The school has reported out both lab-test-confirmed cases of MRSA.

Myth four: MRSA is fatal

Despite the fear this outbreak has caused, a MRSA infection is about as deadly as Strep throat.  MRSA stands for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, and is a hospital acquired bacteria. The severity of the bacterial infection varies, and can be cured by an antibiotic with outpatient treatment or could require the patient to be hospitalized.  

Symptoms include spider-bite-like boils on the skin that will not heal accompanied by fever. If left untreated, MRSA can cause many other infections including pneumonia and endocarditis, an infection of the heart.  

Causes of the MRSA infection include sharing of towels, playing a contact sport and having the infected section of the body exposed.  “There are a number of things that can lead to a MRSA infection, but chief among them are bad luck,” Associate Professor Dr. Marc Scheetz said.  “There are still a number of things we don’t have the answer to.”

Other ways of acquiring MRSA include playing a contact sport like football.  

“This is a classic example of [people] being in close contact with each other,” Dr. Sheila Wang, Associate Professor of Pharmacy practice at Midwestern University, said.  “Football players have some cuts, abrasions […] and that’s the pathway [into the body].”

Both Wang and Scheetz said that anyone with an open cut has a pathway for MRSA bacteria to enter the body.

Ways of spreading include the infected part of a MRSA patient’s skin being exposed and in contact with another person’s open wounds.  

Fact versus fiction

With rumors abundant and facts sparse, it appears as if Central has misconstrued the true nature of MRSA. Through this report, the Central Times hopes to clear up misconceptions and fear of this not-so-fatal disease.