A public school teacher died of complications from a drug-resistant form of staph infection, school officials said.

Herbert Hoover Middle School Principal Billie-Jean Bensen announced the death of Merry King in a letter sent to parents and staff members Monday. The school planned to sanitize King’s classroom as a precaution.

King had been absent from the school since Nov. 30 and had been hospitalized since early last week. Her family said she died Sunday of complications of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.

School officials said there was no reason to believe anyone at the school has a greater-than-normal risk of getting the infection. There was no indication the infection was contracted at the school, said spokesman Brian Edwards.

Dozens of cases of the infection have been reported in the Washington region, but exact figures are not available because doctors are not required to report MRSA to state health authorities.

An estimated 90,000 people in the United States fall ill each year from MRSA. It is not clear how many die from the infection; one estimate put it at more than 18,000, which would be slightly higher than U.S. deaths from AIDS.