Staph reports linked to higher awareness

CHICAGO, Nov. 2 (UPI) -- An Illinois doctor says increased media coverage has likely led to the high number of students reported to have drug-resistant staph infections, or MRSA.

Dr. Craig Conover of the Illinois Public Health Department called it an "outbreak of awareness," the Chicago Sun-Times reported Thursday.

MRSA has been reported in hospitals and other health care settings since the 1960s, Conover said.

The newspaper said the heightened awareness started Oct. 16, when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that MRSA killed more people in 2005 than HIV. The next day, 21 schools in Virginia were closed and disinfected after a student died from MRSA.

The CDC said it generally isn't necessary to close schools to disinfect them and it's usually not necessary "to inform the entire school community about a single MRSA infection," the newspaper said.