Back to School: Backpacks, Notebooks, MRSA Prevention?

For the second year in a row schools and students across the country are being hit by MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) infections.

Albany, OR (Vocus/PRWEB ) September 12, 2008 -- For the second year in a row schools and students across the country are being hit by MRSA (methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus) infections. By now, we all know that MRSA is a highly contagious staph infection that is resistant to most antibiotics and that it's incredibly painful and potentially life-threatening. Experts say prevention is vital since the cost to treat a MRSA infection in a hospital averages $30,991, according to Infection Control Today magazine. The good news, say researchers at Oregon State University, is that help may be right in front of our noses.

The Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy has published a report by researchers at Oregon State University in which they tested common over-the-counter products used for preventing infections. The number one way a child contracts a MRSA infection at school is through a break in the skin. In the lab study, scientists tested a maximum strength antibiotic cream, a "poly" antibiotic cream and a product containing benzethonium chloride, white thyme oil and tea tree oil.

It was essentially a product that was all dressed up with nowhere to go

In 2006, MRSA was under the radar. We'd try to talk to newspaper and TV reporters about MRSA and it was like we were discussing quantum physics. Nobody knew what we were talking about.

better recognize and prevent MRSA infections.

Their conclusion? The benzethonium chloride product, which is widely available on drug store shelves under the brand name Staphaseptic, kills 99.9% of MRSA bacteria. All of the products tested had some antibacterial effectiveness against MRSA bacteria, the OSU study found, but only the benzethonium chloride compound had a genuine "bactericidal" effect - meaning it reduced the number of bacteria by a factor of 1,000 - against all four of the tested MRSA strains. The gel-like ointment is applied to a minor wound before a bandage.

A niche product finds a wide audience
Staphaseptic was introduced in 2006 to little fanfare, according to Gary Burris, company spokesman at Tec Labs, the product's manufacturer.

"It was essentially a product that was all dressed up with nowhere to go," said Burris. "In 2006, MRSA was under the radar. We'd try to talk to newspaper and TV reporters about MRSA and it was like we were discussing quantum physics. Nobody knew what we were talking about."

Boy, how times have changed. MRSA exploded as a national story in October 2007. Within a 24-hour period, 21 schools in Virginia were shut down after a boy in that school district died and a report from the Centers for Disease Control was released saying more people in the U.S. died from MRSA than AIDS.

The CDC is also pushing hard to promote prevention. This week the agency introduced The National MRSA Education Initiative to educate Americans so they can "better recognize and prevent MRSA infections." To find out more about the CDC's initiative visit www.cdc.gov/MRSA. Link to the OSU study here http://jac.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/abstract/dkn272.

Tec Labs offers a sample of Staphaseptic at their website www.staphaseptic.com.

View an MRSA prevention video at http://www.staphaseptic.com/mrsa-video.cfm.

Contact: Brock Laster
541-918-4125
blaster@teclabsinc.com

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staphaseptic mrsa methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus mrsa infection mrsa outbreak mrsa prevention staph infection oregon state university study tec labs back to school

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