Since the beginning of the school year, 11 Howard County students had confirmed cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus.
The school system stopped reporting cases to the county health department in November, after being advised that reporting these cases wasn?t necessary unless they suggested an outbreak.
Did the school system properly respond to the situation?
» Diane Butler: “The school system failed the entire county by not reporting a disease that can be deadly to children and others. The system should be responsive to everyone in the county.”
» Faenita Dilworth: “All [schools system] responses must be in line with the advice of medical experts. … Medical literature shows … MRSA is dormantly carried by millions. We are in contact with people … who, if tested for MRSA, are positive.”
» Allen Dyer: “MRSA, ?the cockroach of bacteria,? is a warning that more germs are increasingly drug resistant. HCPSS should report every case and educate students about the importance of frequent hand-washing.”
» Ellen Flynn Giles: “Fortunately, none of our confirmed MRSA cases were fatal, and the prompt, cooperative approach in communicating critical information and implementing processes contributed to increased public awareness and improved home practices.”
» Betsy Grater: “If the … county health department [did not require the school system] to report these cases, [it] properly responded. … How [could] the health department determine … an outbreak without the schools reporting the number of confirmed cases?”
» Janet Siddiqui: “[In December] the Maryland Health Care Commission approved measures [for] testing and reporting … MRSA in hospitals and [developed] a statewide [hand-washing] campaign. Continuing surveillance, awareness and education … are vital.”
» Di Zou: “No, we need to do everything we can to prevent an outbreak.”
