news-record.com

RALEIGH (AP) MRSA, the latest "superbug" to ignite public fear, doesn't pose any special threat to North Carolina, according to State Health Director Leah Devlin, who pointed out that flu kills twice as many people nationwide each year.

Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus is resistant to many common antibiotics but can be treated with other drugs. It's a disease that's been around for years, mostly in hospitals. And though it can be deadly, state health officials said it's not very contagious and kills only rarely.

"It's absolutely not necessary to close schools and cancel athletic events because MRSA has been diagnosed in the school or in a student on the team," Devlin said.

But the MRSA disease has drawn attention since the death of a high school in Virginia, where public outcry forced school officials to shut down the campus for cleaning. The bacteria can cause skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus.

Devlin said the state is working with schools to ensure that students shower after working out, don't share towels and don't share sports equipment. She also recommended that schools encourage students to wash hands and cover their wounds.

MRSA kills about 18,000 people a year, less than half the total killed by influenza annually. Officials said 85 percent of MRSA deaths take place from hospital infections.

About one quarter of all people carry the regular staph bacteria at any given time. Infections are common, usually spread by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person, particularly one with an open wound.

Devlin sought to calm concerns about MRSA during an annual briefing about the flu.

She said North Carolina has a large supply of the flu vaccine this year and urged everyone eligible to get one. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that there are a record 132 million doses available.

North Carolina has already confirmed one case of influenza, in Buncombe County. And while that's an early case for the flu season, Devlin said there are no signs that this year will be worse than any other.

"There's no real way to predict what kind of season this is going to be," she said.