Illinois School Bans Relatives of Boy Infected with MRSA
Posted on November 12, 2007
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A Chicago area elementary school has banned three children from attending school because a 13-year-old member of their family is infected with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, MSNBC reported. The children show no signs of infection, but school officials fear they might be contagious.
After the infected boy, Pheron, and his mother appeared on television two weeks ago to discuss his MRSA infection, school officials insisted that his sister and two cousins could no longer attend school. Pheron’s mother, Linda King Cowser, said the school expressed concerns that the other children in the family had been exposed to the infectious bacteria. School officials are requiring notes clearing each of the children before they will be allowed back at school.
MRSA is a virulent staph infection that has parents and school administrators around the nation worried after it caused the deaths of four children in the United States last month. Although MRSA can be spread by skin-to-skin contact, the Centers for Disease Control guidelines do not recommend keeping the family members of infected patients home from school.
Pheron’s mother has consulted an attorney who intends to ask a judge to allow the children to return to school immediately. The school did not respond to NBC’s request for comment.
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