Ida Lee center issues staph infection alert

By Eileen M. Carlton

Ida Lee Recreation Center in Leesburg posted fliers Tuesday, Jan. 8, saying a patron had been diagnosed with MRSA – a type of staph infection – one week after using the recreation center.

The staff, according to the flier, has notified the Loudoun County Health Department.

The flier also emphasized that there had been no evidence the staph infection, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, was contracted at Ida Lee. However, to further ensure the public's safety, the locker room and the auxiliary pool used by the infected individual were sterilized.

According to the Mayo Clinic Web site, MRSA was first diagnosed several decades ago as a strain of staph infection found in hospitals, resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it.

Mayo goes on to explain that, in the 1990s, a type of MRSA began showing up in the wider community. Today, that form of staph, known as community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA, is responsible for many serious skin and soft-tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia.

Staph infections, including MRSA, generally start as small red bumps that resemble pimples, boils or spider bites. These can quickly turn into deep, painful abscesses that require surgical draining. Mayo indicated that, left untreated, these staph infections can be fatal.

According to the flier, those wishing more information can contact any one of the following: