Leesville Road Elementary student hospitalized with MRSA diagnosis

By Annie McCallum
Published: June 09, 2008

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A Leesville Road Elementary School student has been hospitalized after being diagnosed with MRSA, Campbell County education officials said Monday.

“Apparently the school received word today that he had been hospitalized today with MRSA,” said Cindee Pletke, director of pupil personnel.

The student was taken to a doctor June 4 for what looked like a bug bite and given antibiotics, Pletke said. He was diagnosed with MRSA on Friday, June 6, she said.

Pletke said the Leesville Road student was at school June 5 and 6 where he participated in field day. The last day of school in Campbell County was June 6.

The student was hospitalized Saturday, June 7, after Pletke said he “got significantly worse.” He remains in the hospital but will likely be released in a day or two.

The student’s parents contacted Leesville Road Elementary Monday with information of the diagnosis and hospitalization.

MRSA, or methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureaus, is an antibiotic-resistant infection that manifests itself as a painful pimple or boil.

It’s typically contracted through injury to the skin and spread through equipment or direct contact with the affected area, and for that reason is common in athletes.

“The boy is doing fine,” Pletke said, later adding, “He’s been treated and is comfortable. He’s doing OK.”

Pletke and Superintendent George Nolley urged parents to be cautious. They also stressed the importance of hand washing and good personal hygiene as deterrents to contracting MRSA.

Last fall MRSA garnered nationally attention when a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention study citing it as a significant health problem coincided with the October death of 17-year-old Ashton Bonds, a student at Staunton River High School in Bedford County.

Bonds died from the disease. Nearly a week and half after his death, Gov. Timothy M. Kaine approved an emergency regulation requiring laboratories to report MRSA infections to the Virginia Department of Health.