West Chicago High School officials are speeding up sanitation efforts after a student was diagnosed with a drug-resistant strain of staph infection this week.

The case, confirmed Monday, is the latest in a string of high-profile reports of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, at Illinois high schools. Health officials said there is no cause for panic but local districts, including West Chicago, began sanitizing after the first reports came out.

Superintendent Lee Rieck said the school staff had planned to thoroughly sanitize the school, especially athletic areas, during the holiday breaks but were forced to quickly sanitize common areas when the West Chicago student was diagnosed.

Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources Kimberly Chambers said the student is responding to treatment and has returned to school.

“We (did) all the disinfecting the health department recommends,” Chambers said. “We’re using the appropriate solution and sanitizing door knobs, light switches and all of the public areas.”

The bacterial staph infections have existed for the past 20 years and most commonly occurred among hospital patients, but recently have become more common in otherwise healthy people, said Melanie Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health.

“This strain is resistant to the typical antibiotics that are used,” she said. “There are two different kinds — hospital-acquired and community-associated MRSA, which is happening in schools, especially with athletic teams.”

MRSA is typically spread through frequent skin-to-skin contact and sharing of personal items, leaving athletes particularly vulnerable, said DuPage County Health Department Epidemiologist Shaun Nelson.

West Chicago High School staff has distributed letters to parents, making them aware of the infection and also providing them with tips on how to prevent the spread of MRSA.

An estimated 30 percent of the population carries staph on the skin, but only 1 percent of people have the drug-resistant type, according to the health department.

MRSA appears on the skin as a lesion or bump and is often red, painful and swollen. More serious staph infections can lead to pneumonia and infections of the blood and joints.

Despite recent local cases of the bacteria, officials said there is no cause for widespread concern. The staph infection has attracted more attention recently because several serious cases were reported. None of the locally reported cases have been serious, Nelson said.

“For those of us in the public health department this isn’t new,” Nelson said. “But public awareness of MRSA has increased and when that happens you end up finding more infections.”

Nelson said his department generally receives about 10 confirmed cases per year but noted the number is likely much higher as state law does not require schools to report cases of MRSA.

“We get a steady stream of reports so I can say it’s not uncommon but the reporting is only as good as the school nurse who’s reporting to us,” Nelson said.

The county health department is currently running its own tests to confirm the West Chicago case as MRSA. Although the Department of Health recommended the school increase sanitation efforts following the outbreak, Nelson said most of the responsibility for stopping the spread lies with students themselves.

“The environment plays a role but it’s really more the skin-to-skin contact and sharing personal items,” Nelson said.

Although MRSA is resistant to some drugs, Nelson said that’s not necessarily a cause for major concern.

“It doesn’t mean there aren’t a lot of other good drugs to use,”  Nelson said. “It just means the doctor should be using a particular set.”