Some parents of students who attend an Arlington County elementary school where a child was recently infected with antibiotic-resistant staph say they’re not concerned the school didn’t disinfect classrooms.
Parents at Long Branch Elementary School were informed Tuesday of the infection — methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) — after school officials received the diagnosis Dec. 17, school officials told The Examiner last week.
Arlington school officials told parents in a letter that measures were in place to reduce the risk of transmission, but said facilities were not cleaned and disinfected in response.
Joanne Sweeney, one of the parents who received a letter from Long Branch,said she believes the Arlington school took appropriate measures. She said she is sticking to the recommendations in the letter and making sure her children are washing their hands frequently.
Typically, when cases of MRSA have cropped up in other Washington-area schools, the classrooms have been disinfected. For example, when a teacher at Herbert Hoover Middle School in Rockville died earlier this month, the school sanitized her classroom.
But a Virginia state health official says the Arlington parents are right not to worry.
Cleaning the classrooms would reduce only some of the deadly bacteria’s potential to spread, said Dr. Chris Novak, an epidemiologist with the Virginia Department of Health.
The best way to keep the disease in check is good personal hygiene — frequently washing hands and keeping cuts clean, Novak said.
Another parent, Jay Stanley, said MRSA isn’t his top concern.
“I worry about my kids every time they get in the car. It’s a lot more dangerous day-to-day.”
The incident was the Arlington school system’s first known case since tighter reporting standards were put in place in the fall after a Bedford County high school football player died in October. Since then, Virginia has reported 85 cases, three of which were fatal.
