A student in the Cato-Meridian Central School District has contracted MRSA, according to district Superintendent Deborah Bobo.

“All precautions have been taken,” said Bobo. “Custodial arrangements have been made. Everything is being disinfected and cleaned. We are doing everything that we can do.”

While the district received confirmation last week, Bobo said the district has been proactive rather than reactive, sanitizing locker rooms, table tops and door knobs and making sure there's ample antibacterial soap available in rest rooms.

MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is a type of bacterial that causes staph infections that are resistant to treatment with usual antibiotics, according to the New York State Department of Health. Often, infections manifest itself as redness, swelling and tenderness at the site of infection.

Cato-Meridian is currently the only school district in Cayuga County with a confirmed case of MRSA; the Auburn Enlarged City School District has one unconfirmed case. MRSA is deemed by the department as a non-reportable disease.

There are confirmed cases of MRSA in several school districts in Onondaga County, including Central Square, Liverpool and Syracuse.

According to Dr. Phillip Gioia from the Cayuga County Health & Human Services Department of Children's Health Specialists, about 20 to 30 percent of all people carry some kind of staph infection - typically found in noses - and about 20 percent of those staph germs are methicillin-resistant. In schools, Gioia said about five percent of school-age children carry MRSA, some of which many not have any systems.

“Germs are always around,” said Gioia, who is also a medical consultant for the county Department of Health. “Bacteria has been around for three billion years and you're not going to get rid of them. You just have to make sure that anybody who has cuts and scratches - open wounds - keeps them clean, keeps them covered. Antibiotic ointment may be used on open skin to keep germs from getting out of control.”

MRSA is most commonly found in healthcare facilities among people who have weakened immune systems or recently underwent surgery, Gioia said. Those especially at risk are young children and the elderly, he said. For school-age children, the key is washing hands and keeping wounds clean and covered.

But there is a difference between maintaining and enhancing personal hygiene and taking steps that are detrimental in order to prevent the spread of MRSA.

“It's good that people are thinking about it but it's not the only problem,” Gioia said. “Some of the cures are worse than the disease. If you go out and spray everyone with Clorox Bleach it is going to cause a lot of rashes and it can be irritating to the lungs, too. Kids in schools should try to be clean but not kill themselves. They should avoid using toxic chemicals too much or getting their skin irritated or sore from over cleaning. That could be worse than germs on the surface of normal healthy skin.”

The Auburn school district has been engaged since September in a proactive approach to cleanse and disinfect materials that could transmit the bacteria, said Superintendent Joseph D. “J.D.” Pabis during the Oct. 23 Board of Education meeting. Athletes, especially those who participate in contact sports, are the most at-risk group in school-age children. They have had their uniforms and equipment cleaned and sanitized, which is standard procedure for the district. Nurses' offices have all undergone sanitizing daily as have locker rooms, Pabis said.

And coaches, teachers and nursing staff have reminded students about personal hygiene, Pabis said, from washing hands to showering after an athletic competition.

But the district's efforts to keep its schools and students clean is not limited to standard procedure. Owasco Elementary School is piloting a program called Clean For Health, which features an environmentally friendly and safe disinfectant used on surfaces like classroom desks four times a week with a neutralizer used on the fifth day to prevent the building of resistance. Staff swab those surfaces to see what bacteria is on them, and then the surfaces are cleaned with a microfiber cloth - a rougher material - that gets into the crevices and grains, Pabis said.

Pabis hopes to get Clean For Health in all Auburn schools following a successful pilot in Owasco Elementary.

Last week, U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer announced the Senate had passed the Fiscal Year 2008 Labor, Health and Human Services appropriations bill, which contains a Schumer-backed amendment designating $5 million for efforts to reduce MRSA infections.

“Over the past month, New York state has witnessed a tidal wave of staph cases popping up in schools across the state,” said Schumer in a news release. “This infection has spread unabated for far too long. Right now, families and communities across New York state are on edge, fearing that their kid's school could be the next one hit by this potentially fatal infection. This funding will help the federal government stop this bug dead in its tracks.”

Schumer is urging President George Bush, who has threatened a veto, to sign the bill and provide much-needed resources to combat the bacterial infections.

“Eradicating this terrifying bacteria should be put above politics,” he said in the release. “The president should remove his veto threat immediately and allow this vital funding to be approved without delay.”

Staff writer Alyssa Sunkin can be reached at alyssa.sunkin@lee.net or 253-5311 ext. 239.