10 men contract staph infections in NY

WHITE PLAINS, N.Y. - Nine athletes and a coach at Iona College contracted an antibiotic-resistant staph infection, which has spread through schools nationwide, health officials said Friday.

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The outbreak was under control and the one student who was hospitalized has been released, said Dr. Joshua Lipsman, the health commissioner in Westchester County, just north of New York City.

Staph infections, including the serious Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, have spread in recent weeks through schools across the nation, according to health and education officials.

A high school senior in Virginia died of the disease Monday, his mother said. And dozens of high school students and some teachers in districts around the country have contracted the illness this fall, officials have said.

Lipsman confirmed that the Iona cases were MRSA, which does not respond to penicillin and related antibiotics but can be treated with other drugs.

Cecelia Donohoe, spokeswoman for the college in New Rochelle, said all the cases had been caught early and were mild. She wouldn't identify the team, citing privacy concerns, but Lipsman said all the victims are male.

The infection can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person, particularly one with an open wound. Lipsman said Iona was dealing properly with the infection.

He and Donohoe said team members with open wounds have been forbidden to play, the weight room had been disinfected and all students have been advised about proper hygiene, such as scrupulous hand washing and not sharing razors or towels.

MRSA began showing up years ago in hospitals before working its way into prisons, schools and other community settings. School athletes appear particularly susceptible because of cuts and scrapes, bodily contact and the sharing of equipment.

Schools where the infections have been reported have closed to be sanitized before reopening.

The government earlier this week issued its first overall estimate of diseases caused by MRSA, finding more than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly infections each year from it.