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Another diagnosis of the potentially deadly version of a staph infection has been made this week in a Guilford County student.

A letter from Smith High School principal Noah Rogers was sent home with students Friday; the letter said the student's infection is responding to antibiotics.

"We are in a 'surveillance stage' and are watching for others who might exhibit symptoms of this infection," Rogers said in the letter.

It's the second case of the infection — called methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA — reported this week in a Guilford high school student.

On Thursday, officials at Northeast High School said a student there had the infection.

The bacteria is a stronger strain of staph. It's the same strain that led to the death of a Virginia high school student this week and has been linked to other student deaths nationwide this fall.

Some antibiotics traditionally used to treat staph infections don't kill MRSA, though other medicine can treat what some have called the "superbug."

The primary symptom of an infection is a boillike lesion that oozes pus, but the only way to know if a bump is MRSA is to see a doctor.

"The concern would be if there is something like a boil that is not responding to your treatment at home," said Connie Lawson, a health educator with the Guilford County Department of Health.

Good hygiene can prevent infection from the bacteria, which health officials said lives on the skin of many people.

"And the key is when there's a break in the skin and it gets inside the body," Lawson said.

Close quarters, such as bathrooms, can be breeding grounds for the bacteria.

Rogers said Smith High School is cleaning and disinfecting its bathrooms twice daily, and that locker rooms and athletics equipment also are being thoroughly cleaned.

Bacteria in locker rooms at East Forsyth High School may have been responsible for at least six football players picking up MRSA since September.

Although no new cases have been diagnosed in the past two weeks on the East Forsyth team, two athletics events between Page High School and East Forsyth High School were canceled Thursday by Guilford County Schools officials because of concern about the bacteria.

Local and state health officials don't track the incidence of MRSA.

But people have been interested, Lawson said.

"I have not counted, but I can certainly say that we've had lots of calls," she said.

Contact Gerald Witt at 382-8522 orgwitt@news-record.com