3 More Staph Cases Confirmed In N.J.

NEW YORK -- There are three more cases of the potentially deadly staph infection MRSA confirmed in New Jersey, officials said.

Passaic County authorities said those cases are linked to schools in Paterson.

The development came a day after officials said a security guard at Roberto Clemente School in Newark was infected with MRSA.
Newark Mayor Cory Booker says the entire school has now been sanitized and the security guard is getting medical care.
Last week, MRSA was being blamed for the death of a 14-year-old Brooklyn middle-school student. Outbreaks at other schools nationwide have forced some to close while they are disinfected. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, or MRSA, has gained more public attention since a recent government report that found more than 90,000 Americans get potentially deadly staph infections each year.

Healthy people can carry the bacteria, which lives on their skin or in their noses. Most drug-resistant staph cases involve mild skin infections, but severe infections can enter the bloodstream or destroy flesh and become deadly.