PORT TOWNSEND – An additional case of a potentially life-threatening, antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria has been confirmed in the Port Townsend School District – at a second school.
And a third case is pending the results of laboratory tests.
The first case of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA (pronounced MUR-sah), confirmed Wednesday in a Port Townsend High School senior football player, resulted in the cancellation of Saturday’s final football game of the season so that athletic facilities on the high school campus could be disinfected this weekend.
Now, another Port Townsend football player believed to have contracted the infection has been tested, but lab results are pending, head football coach Tom Sly said.
On Friday, a second case of MRSA was confirmed in an adult in the preschool portion of Grant Street Elementary School, said Principal Steve Finch.
“It has come to our attention today that a person who has been at the preschool has also been diagnosed with MRSA,” Finch wrote in a letter to parents delivered Friday.
Finch would only say the person diagnosed with MRSA was an adult and not a preschooler, but wouldn’t offer further details.
He added that the person had received medical treatment, is on antibiotics and is no longer contagious.
“At this time, we have no reason to believe that there are any connections between these two cases [at Grant Street and at the high school],” Finch said.
