Virginia staph death has schools on alert

ROANOKE, Va., Oct. 18 (UPI) -- Officials closed all 21 Bedford County, Va., schools for disinfection Wednesday after a high school student died of a staph infection.

Ashton Bonds, a 17-year-old Staunton River High School senior, died Monday night after being hospitalized for more than a week with a bacterial infection, The Roanoke Times reported.

Bonds was diagnosed with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is a strain of bacteria that does not respond to penicillin and similar antibiotics, and poses a serious risk to young children, the elderly and people with depressed immune systems, the Newport News Daily Press said.

Several cases of students infected with the treatment-resistant bacteria have been reported in Virginia and across the nation, the newspaper said.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said staph bacteria is most often spread through skin contact but the bacteria can live on surfaces like locker benches and towels.