Schools

Hauppauge Student with MRSA Treated, Returns to High School

Hauppauge school officials issues statement that student has returned to school; not a member of an athletic team.

Hauppauge school officials have issued an updated statement Thursday afternoon stating the high school student with MRSA has been treated and returned to classes.

Pam Donovan, a spokeswoman for the district, said the infected student missed two days of school, but has returned with a doctor's note. 

"It was a minor case, a skin lesion in a covered area. There was no reason for people to be alarmed," Donovan said.

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District parents from Superintendent Patricia Sullivan-Kriss that was sent home with students on Wednesday afternoon.

Donovan said the district immediately identified those areas the affected students has come in contact with, including classrooms, bathrooms, locker rooms, cafeterias and more. Custodians then used a Virex, a chemical cleaning agent, to clean desks, doorknobs, doorways, window sills and any other high-contact surface areas, according to Donovan. Larger areas were cleaned using a disinfectant fogger.

Find out what's happening in Hauppaugewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"Every night the district is cleaned. When something like this happens, we use specific chemicals in our cleaning," the district spokeswoman said.

It is not clear where the student picked up the MRSA virus. A statement issued by Donovan said the district's letter to parents is part of its standard procedures in an effort "to reinforce habits of good hygiene and cleanliness."

This was the third student MRSA case to be confirmed at Hauppauge High School within the past year.

In January, junior wrestler was hospitalized at Stony Brook University Children's Hospital when he contracted MRSA that developed into  Lemierre's syndrome, a rare but deadly bacterial infection in the mouth or throat spread through the circulatory system. He was in the hospital for nearly a month before returning home to continue recovery. Mauriello has returned to competitive sports, playing for the fall varsity boys volleyball team.


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