Complimentary staph awareness kit for schools by Tec Laboratories

Because staph spreads the fastest in places like hospitals, schools and prisons, I want to raise awareness for it here on Family Care where so many of the readership's loved ones are residents of nursing homes and assisted living facilities.

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Tec Laboratories, the makers of Tecnu Poison Oak and Ivy relief products, wants to raise awareness on the growing MRSA threat to athletes and students. MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), is a staph infection that can potentially be deadly. Tech Labs wants to help schools prevent the spread of this dangerous infections, so they have created a complimentary MRSA education kit that can be distributed to schools.

This kit is a backpack filled with items to help schools raise awareness about staph infections. The kit includes an educational DVD; MRSA: The Ticking Time Bomb, a printable quiz, a poster showing a six-step staph prevention program, bi-lingual pamphlets, and product samples.

You can find additonal MRSA information at www.StaphAseptic.com and www.cdc.gov. These kits are limited to one per school and can only be mailed to the physical address of the school, not to a personal address. If you would like to find out more about this kit for your school call 1-800-482-4464 and press “0”.




This post was sponsored by Tec Laboratories
Founded in 1977, Tec Labs has been protecting consumers and industrial workers for more than 29 years. Their product line includes Tecnu, Tecnu Extreme, Calagel, Licefreee! and Corticool.

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Press Release:

For Immediate Release Contact: Gary Burris 541-918-4124 direct gary@teclabsinc.com MRSA: Free Staph Education and Prevention Kit Available to Help Schools Fight Back Against Rising Staph Infections Albany, OR—For 30 years, Tec Laboratories, the makers of Tecnu Poison Oak and Ivy relief products, has targeted a common health problem and then set out to solve it better than anyone else. After seeing a dramatic increase in potentially deadly staph infections, specifically those caused by MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), Tec Labs went on a mission. The result is StaphAseptic, an over-the-counter wound care treatment for cuts, scrapes and burns, which prevents MRSA infections by killing the bacteria that cause them. As a public service to help schools become educated about the growing MRSA threat to athletes and students, Tec Labs has created a complimentary MRSA education prevention kit that includes an educational DVD called MRSA: The Ticking Time Bomb, a printable quiz, a six-step staph prevention program poster, bi-lingual pamphlets and product samples. It’s all placed into a backpack and is offered at no cost to schools. “The schools are really ground zero for the enormous number of community acquired MRSA outbreaks we are seeing,” said Steve Smith, president and chief executive officer of Tec Labs. “MRSA and staph bacteria thrive on warm, moist skin so student athletes are certainly at risk. And we also know that environments like a school, in which people are in close contact, are ripe for the spread of the bacteria. The kit gives schools a place to start in regards to educating their students.” Smith first realized the true magnitude of the MRSA epidemic when the company introduced StaphAseptic to the national drug store chains. “I was a bit overwhelmed by the response we had when we presented it to the chain drug stores,” he said. “Every major chain (Rite Aid, CVS, Brooks/Eckerd, Walgreens, Kroger) has taken it in and I’ve heard story after story of people who have been affected by MRSA in some capacity.” MRSA—A Ticking Time Bomb According to Dr. Dave Bearden, a clinical associate professor at Oregon State University and a clinician specializing in infectious diseases, MRSA has kept a low profile in hospitals for over 20 years, but has recently reared its head outside of hospitals. “Since 2000 we have increasingly seen MRSA as a growing cause of infection outside of the hospital,” says Bearden. “Recent reports suggest that nearly 60% of all pus-forming skin infections in emergency rooms across the country are caused by MRSA. Limiting the spread of the organism in schools and sports will continue to be a major problem.” Dr. Bearden also points out the impact MRSA has had in sports. “The St. Louis Rams made headlines in the New England Journal of Medicine for a well publicized outbreak of MRSA skin infections,” says Bearden. “Infection has also been well documented in otherwise healthy children, and athletes at all levels. This MRSA strain appears to be more aggressive than other strains of bacteria, and has caused severe infections.” Additionally, the Cleveland Browns football team has been hit hard, losing several players to MRSA staph infection. Dr. Peter Coelho, a physician who works with athletes at California’s San Benito High School is also worried about the effect on schools and athletics. “This bug scares the daylights out of me. It’s a ticking time bomb in high school sports, especially football and wrestling….It’s only a matter of time,” said Coelho. Other schools have also begun battling the super bug. In November 2006, three schools in Ohio’s York City school district were closed due to a staph infection outbreak. What Can People Do to Try and Avoid a MRSA Infection? “In non-infected patients, hand washing, coverage and care of wounds, and limiting shared personal items (e.g., towels, razors) are important. Patients infected with MRSA should take caution to limit exposure of the wound to others,” says Bearden. Cuts, scrapes and abrasions are common entry points for MRSA bacteria that lead to staph infection. StaphAseptic is applied to minor wounds to kill the bacteria to help prevent a MRSA related staph infection. About the MRSA Educational Kit The kit can be obtained by calling 1-800-482-4464 and pushing “0”. There is a limit of one free kit per school. Find general MRSA information at www.StaphAseptic.com and www.cdc.gov. About Tec Labs Tec Laboratories, Inc. is an innovator of over-the-counter topical pharmaceuticals and the developer of breakthrough technologies in this area. Founded in 1977, Tec Labs has been protecting consumers and industrial workers for more than 29 years. Their product line includes Tecnu, Tecnu Extreme, Calagel, Licefreee! and Corticool. In April 2006, Tec Labs ranked #1 overall, for the second year in a row, in The Scientist magazine’s Best Places to Work in Industry survey. The survey was conducted among companies from 21 countries, including the U.S., Canada and Europe.

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