Cleanlink News March 31 2009
IEHA Fights Infection in K-12 Schools
Recently, while reading your local paper, watching your local news, or searching news on the Internet, you may have noticed that MRSA and other infectious diseases in K-12 schools is a hot topic. In the past three weeks alone, at least five grade-school students have been infected or lost their lives due to these illnesses. On March 11, local papers in Kentucky reported that a high school junior died from MRSA; on March 18, a primary school in Ohio reported that a student had been infected with MRSA; on March 22, it was reported that an 11-year-old girl from Tennessee lost her life from a combination of MRSA and pneumonia; on March 24, it was reported that a junior from a high school in New York state died from MRSA; and also on March 24, local Ohio news stations reported that an 18-year-old high school senior had to have his legs amputated due to flesh-eating bacteria, and has been listed in critical condition.
As one of the leaders of infection control practices in K-12 schools, IEHA wanted to ensure that all members in that sector were provided with the most up-to-date practices when it comes to preventing and stopping the spread of infections like these. Therefore, IEHA provided each of their K-12 school members IEHA’s recently published Infection Control for Dummies book to keep them informed on how to prevent tragedies like these from occurring in their school districts.
“The spread of infectious diseases is often magnified in the healthcare industry; however, the recent news on K-12 schools further proves that deadly infections can occur in any type of facility where people are in close proximity,” says Beth B. Risinger, CEO/Executive Director of IEHA. “Therefore, we decided to take action to help prevent the spread of infection in schools by providing this valuable resource to our members.”
