Staph Infection=No School

Today dh took Nicholas to school and brought him back. We had not watched the news last night or this morning, so we did not know that they closed the school to disinfect. Lately many surrounding school systems have been closing because of an infection that is going around. It is a drug resistance staph infection and from what I understand you get a sore on your skin that usually contains pus and is just really nasty. This used to be gotten only by certain groups but can now be caught by anyone. From what I have been told, Staph infection is like Strep throat only it is on the skin. I have had strep throat many times and hated it. This looks so bad I know it is something I really do not want. I have even read some reports of kids dying in our area because of this infection. So, as a parent, this makes it even scary for me to send my kid to school. The way you catch the infection is by direct skin to skin contact or using shared items like towels or even touching items, like door knobs. We got this big letter from the school system yesterday stating things we could do to help prevent spreading this disease. It is really quite easy. Handwashing. I used to teach handwashing to kids in my former job and I would always tell them to sing the ABC song. Most kids do not wash there hands that long. Also, they recommend only using towels once and washing them in hot water. Some area doctors have even said you should only use paper towels for handwashing in your home. To get rid of this infection, which is really hard, you need to take an antibiotic and follow doctors instructions on treating the womb. The usual antibiotics to treat a staph infection do not work on this strand so you have to use a different one. You also have to keep the sore covered to prevent spreading it. I have a friend at church whose young son has had this for about a year. Every time he gets rid of it, he is fine for a while and then another one comes back. She thinks he got it from his papaw who was in the hospital and when he came home her son wore his shoes that he wore in the hospital. All of this is kind of scary! I also have some disinfecting wipes in my purse that I use on shopping carts when we go out. We do not have this in our house and I do not want us to get it. From what I understand other states are dealing with this problem too, so everyone should start taking efforts to prevent contamination. It really makes me think now when i go some place and all of the things that I touch. So, anyways, my son is home for the day and tonight we go Trick or Treat.