Kalaheo and Roosevelt high schools are taking extra precautions for the safety and well-being of their athletes after a breakout of staph infections.

Eight football players at Kalaheo and one at Roosevelt have been diagnosed as having staph infections, according to Derek Inoshita of the Department of Education communications department and Roosevelt principal Sean Wong.

Staph infections can spread through contact with contaminated objects or from skin-to-skin contact.

At Roosevelt, the administration has thoroughly disinfected the locker room, the field, the pads and the equipment, according to Wong. Inoshita added that after some postponed practices by Rough Riders athletic teams, "things are back to normal."

At Kalaheo, principal Susan Hummel wrote a letter to parents to allay their fears and to assure them that cleanliness is and always has been a priority.

"Kalaheo athletic trainers have regularly disinfected the athletic locker rooms since the fall sports season began and continue to disinfect lockers, benches, equipment and the floors," Hummel wrote.

"The few cases of reported skin lesions experienced by our athletes have been treated by the students’ physicians and monitored by the athletic trainers. No affected athlete has been permitted to play until they are cleared by their doctor."

In the letter, Hummel took particular care to address the cleanliness of the school’s weight room, writing that there have been "no medical concerns experienced by students that can be attributed to using weight room equipment" and that "physical education teachers will be trained or retrained to ensure that weight room equipment is disinfected after students use the equipment."

In a Hawaii News Now report Wednesday, Kalaheo physical education teacher Chris Akana is quoted as saying that he has complained to the school administration about dirty conditions in the weight room for three years and that the complaints were ignored.

Phone calls on Thursday by the Star-Advertiser to Akana, Hummel, Kalaheo football coach Darrell Poole and Roosevelt athletic director John Chung were not returned. Kalaheo athletic director Mark Brilhante referred questions on the subject to Hummel.

It’s not clear when the Kalaheo staph infections were originally detected. One media report cites "earlier this month" as the start of the timeline. Roosevelt learned of its infected player Monday, Wong said.

On Friday, the Kalaheo football team defeated Roosevelt 39-29 at the Kailua High field, which is where the Mustangs play their home games. It is not known whether the Roosevelt player contacted the staph infections from Kalaheo players during the game. According to the DOE communications office, the infected Kalaheo players have not returned to practice.

Wong said he doesn’t know why media outlets are reporting that Roosevelt has two cases of athletes with staph.

"There is only one, so I don’t know where they’re getting their information," Wong said. "We are taking precautionary measures so we don’t create a panic or more outbreak and eliminate concerns. Our efforts have been to contain the situation and to make sure that we’re doing the necessary things so our student-athletes and their families have a safe environment."

Wong also said that Roosevelt’s trainers have checked all of the school’s athletes and any who have a small cut or worse were sent to get evaluated by a doctor. So far, no other cases of athletes with the infection have been found.