Parents: Son got MRSA at Merritt Island High

The mother of a 16-year-old Merritt Island High football player who contracted MRSA said her son is doing better and responding well to prescribed medicines.

Noah Meyers, 16, contracted what doctors say is MRSA. His parents believe he got the infection from his football helmet at the school. His parents thought he had developed some acne, but a few days later his face was violently blistered. The sores spread across where his football helmet chin strap was secured. Nicole Meyers said she immediately took her son to an urgent care facility where he was diagnosed.

"He's doing better," Nicole Meyers said. "He's responding to the medicine well and we're going to bring him back to the doctor in a few days."

After Noah's diagnosis, Nicole Meyers said she and her husband contacted Merritt Island High School to alert the administration about the issue. However, she said the issue was "swept under the rug."

"When we tried to open up the discussion at the school, it was immediately shut down," she said. "They have not reached out to us since Monday."

Michelle Irwin, public information officer for Brevard County Schools, said the district has no confirmed information that the MRSA is related to the school or football equipment.

"The football helmets in question were reconditioned and sanitized prior to distribution," she said. "The claim that the source is MIHS football equipment is by the parent and no one has substantiated the claim."

Nicole Meyers said it's "common sense" that the issue was triggered by bacteria on the strap.

Dr. Larry Bishop of the Department of Dermatology at Health First said about 30 percent of people carry staph bacteria and about five percent of those carry MRSA, an acronym for Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, an infection that is resistant to the antibiotics usually used to treat staph infections. A simple handshake can transfer the infection, but personal contact is not required.

"It's not uncommon to get it from an inanimate object, anything where one person who has the infection touches the object," Bishop said.

He added that the seriousness of MRSA is often overstated.

"The truth is, most MRSA infections are small, innocuous, and just by draining you can get rid of them. They are not, in most cases, life-threatening."

Although warm, wet surfaces are not required for the bacteria to be transmitted, Bishop said it can survive longer in humid conditions.

Irwin said custodians have been instructed to re-clean and sanitize the locker rooms at Merritt Island High School, and the district's environmental services department has been sent out to investigate as a precaution.

Nicole Meyers said she took to social media to get the information out about her son for fear that others could contract the infection.

It's important, she said, to make sure that this is a discussion in the community.

"We saw the pain that Noah was going through, and no one should have to experience that because we aren't communicating. I cannot even freaking give him a hug right now," she said.

… There was a big football game last night and two teams were using that field house. Is it fair to expose those two schools to a potentially dangerous situation? It could be solved by saying 'Wear flip flops and bring wipes.'

Contact Saggio at 321-242-3664 and JSaggio@FloridaToday.com. Follow her on Twitter @JessicaJSaggio.