'Superbug' outbreaks reported at four suburban schools

An Aurora school was closed today as new outbreaks of staph infection were reported at suburban schools in Naperville, Rolling Meadows and Gurnee.

Holy Angels Catholic School in Aurora was closed today after being notified Wednesday of a confirmed case of MRSA at the school. Principal Norb Rozanski said officials would not divulge whether the case involves a student or faculty member because of privacy issues.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a strain of bacteria that can be found in the nasal passages, skin, or bodily secretions but does not necessarily produce the disease.

In Gurnee, Woodland District 50 Superintendent Joy Swoboda sent a letter Wednesday to parents at Woodland Middle School where she said a child is undergoing medical treatment for MRSA and should return to school soon.Swoboda said officials learned about the infected student late Monday. The middle school, on Washington Street in Gurnee, serves children in grades six through eight.

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In Rolling Meadows, school officials apparently sent a letter to parents this week stating that a student at John G. Conyers Learning Academy, a school in Palatine Elementary District 15, had contracted MRSA. Parent Ronda Bischoff said the letter stated that one child had the so-called "superbug" and will not return to school.

Two students in Naperville's Indian Prairie Unit District 204 have been diagnosed with the staph infection and three more people in neighboring Naperville Unit District 203 are being examined, amid concerns they may have the infection just a week after that district notified parents that two freshmen at Naperville North High School were infected.

In the latest Indian Prairie cases, a student at Prairie Children Preschool was treated for the disease about five weeks ago and already has been cleared to return to school, according to an e-mail message sent to parents today by Deputy Superintendent Kathy Birkett.

The other case involves a high school student at the district's Frontier Campus who is currently under a physician's care and will not return to school until released by a doctor.

Area physicians notified District 204 about the cases on Tuesday.

All the schools emphasized that they have taken measures to clean and sterilize facilities and make sure they are safe.

Woodland spokeswoman Jennifer Tempest Bova said the district took immediate action at the middle school Monday night after learning about the student.

"We conducted a thorough cleaning in the middle school to be proactive," Bova said.

At Holy Angels, Rozanski said 57 staff members and some parents are following Kane County Health Department guidelines to make sure the school is safe by cleaning lockers and anything the 644 students may have touched. He said any clothes or items found in students' lockers at closed Holy Angels school will be sent home Friday in sealed plastic bags for parents to wash.

"We are making sure and doing what we have to do for the students' safety," said Rozanski said. "We don't want to lose any students."

District 204 already had started proactively cleaning all middle and high school locker rooms last week after learning about the infection at Naperville North. The district is reviewing Illinois Department of Health guidelines in order to properly clean the preschool and Frontier Campus.

District 203 already has "super cleaned" all high school and junior high school locker rooms and Leis said the district is being vigilant about cleaning on a daily basis.

To keep the disease from spreading, The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says people must keep their hands, cuts and scrapes clean and covered. They also recommended people avoid sharing razors, towels and other personal items and avoid contact with other people's wounds.

On the skin, the infection may look like a pimple or boil and could be swollen or painful, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Daily Herald staff writers M.J. Porter, Bob Susnjara, Sara Faiwell and Melissa Jenco contributed to this story.