WASHINGTON, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) -- A total of 21 schools
were shutdown in northern America on Wednesday after a high school student died
of a fatally bacterial infection.
The schools in Bedford County, Virginia, were closed
to allow officials to conduct a thorough cleaning as a way to stop the staph, or
"superbug," from spreading, said Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia
Department of Education.
The shutdown was ordered after a 17-year-old student,
Ashton Bonds, a senior at Staunton River High School, died Monday after being
diagnosed with Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA, caused by
the staph bacteria.
The teen complained of pain in his side and went to
hospital on Oct. 4. He was sent home after doctors ruled out appendicitis, but
was readmitted three days later to another hospital.
Bonds was diagnosed with MRSA last week when the
bacteria had spread to his kidneys, liver, lungs and the muscles around his
heart. He was about to undergo surgery to drain the infection from his lungs
when doctors detected a inoperable blood clot near his heart.
There have been three reported MRSA outbreaks so far
this year, said Robert Parker, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Health.
According to a research published in the Journal of
the American Medical Association on Tuesday, more than 90,000 Americans get
potentially deadly infections each year from MRSA, even more than deaths caused
by AIDS.
Staph bacteria typically are found on the skin or in
the nose. They can cause pimples or rashes but occasionally can also cause
severe infections in the lungs, kidneys and other organs, said the first
government report on overall estimate of MRSA.
In 2005, an estimated 19,000 Americans died from
MRSA, about 85percent of them were infected with the "superbug" in a hospital or
health care facility but the infection is also found in the community, the
report said.
In schools, places like locker rooms are more
vulnerable to staph infections because of shared personal items like towels and
athletic gear.
