Drug-resistant staph found at Palatine High

The pesky strain of staph widely reported throughout the suburbs has reached Palatine High School.

A student was diagnosed with drug-resistant methicillin-resistant staphyloccus aureus, or MRSA, last week, school official announced. The student has since been treated and cleared to attend classes, according to a letter sent Monday home with students by school officials.

MRSA can cause skin infections like pimples or boils, but in rarer cases can cause serious illness. This particular strain is resistant to some antibiotics but is treatable. Healthy people could carry the bacterium in their noses and skin.

State health officials aren't sure what's causing the recent outbreak and have yet to make any connections. Doctors find the so-called "superbug" in more than 90,000 Americans each year, with 19,000 of those cases turning fatal.

Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 spokesman Tom Petersen said each school is already cleaned daily with a hospital-grade sanitizer that kills the bacteria in "high-touch" areas, like doorknobs.

"We want to remind students to take precautions, that really good hygiene is the best defense against any illness," Petersen said. "Remember to wash your hands -- things like that."

MRSA cases have been reported in schools in Elgin, Streamwood, Naperville, Gurnee, Huntley, Lincolnshire, North Aurora, Rolling Meadows, Schiller Park, West Aurora, Woodstock and elsewhere in the Chicago suburbs.

District 211 officials are also working with the Cook County Department of Public Health.