MRSA Infection

UL player MRSA form elbow abrasion

UL player thankful to be back with team | Daily World | dailyworld.com.

Thibodeaux picked up MRSA — linked, according to a New England Journal of Medicine study, to abrasions caused by artificial turf — in his elbow prior to the start of the season. He finished the meds he was given to treat it, and figured all was good. But then came the aforementioned play at Kent State, a helmet-to-helmet collision that caused a concussion, hurt Thibodeaux's back and evidently reawakened the dormant MRSA. The medical drama that unfolded, in a nutshell: "It reactivated it "» in my body, and it got into my bloodsteam, and went to my heart," Thibodeaux said. "My heart shot it out, and that's when it went to all of my organs and formed (a) cyst in my spinal canal."

Three Ways Athletes Can Prevent Skin Infections in a Locker Room

Three Ways Athletes Can Prevent Skin Infections in a Locker Room - Yahoo! Sports.

Skin infections are very common in sports, especially in contained environments such as a locker room. Skin infections can be viral or bacterial, and can transfer by direct or indirect contact with the source. An athlete needs to be aware of ways to prevent a skin infection, since a locker room is the perfect host for skin infections due to the moist and dark environment. Here are three ways an athlete can prevent a skin infection while in the locker room, which will keep him or her safe during sports.

See the link above for whole article

MRSA School Cluster Provokes Action

MRSA is nothing to mess with (Globe Gazette Editorial).

OK, it’s an acronym — MRSA — but it stands for a really nasty infection, Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, otherwise known as a staph infection. Unfortunately, it showed up early in the school year at West Fork High School. Fortunately, school officials wasted no time in attacking it. The story made headlines the other day after one case was confirmed by a doctor. Six other cases thought at first to be impetigo now are thought to be MRSA, according to Franklin County Department of Health Assistant Administrator Jenni Swartz. This is an awful bacterial infection. Easily spread from person to person, symptoms include red, painful and swollen areas of the skin that can include boils and rash. Many times, schools discover it during wrestling season, when the skin-to-skin contact is greatest. But in West Fork, football and volleyball athletes have shown signs of it already this season.

Community-acquired MRSA in a female athletes

H5N1: Canada: Community-acquired MRSA in a female athlete.

Twenty days after suffering a leg injury while wind surfing, a previously healthy female athlete presented to St Paul's Hospital (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada) with profound myalgia and shortness of breath.  Within 24 hours of admission, she developed progressive multi-organ failure and was admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with severe sepsis secondary to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteremia. Several months prior to the wind surfing accident, this individual had participated in an extreme rowing event: 14 rowers embarked on a transatlantic rowing expedition across the Northern Atlantic Ocean. During the voyage, which lasted over 42 days, at least 9 of the 14 crew members developed extensive furuncles and carbuncles. Ultimately, 3 of the crew members developed severe infections requiring hospitalization.  Laboratory data from those who reported skin and soft tissue infection related to the transatlantic crossing provide preliminary evidence for CA-MRSA as the causative organism.

Ohio State football: Tight end Fragel has MRSA infection

Ohio State football: Tight end Fragel has MRSA infection | BuckeyeXtra.

Ohio State tight end Reid Fragel tweeted yesterday that he has been released from the hospital after being diagnosed with a MRSA staph infection in his leg. Citing federal privacy rules, Ohio State officials would not confirm Fragel's condition. Fragel tweeted Tuesday night that he was headed to the emergency room. He said he had a tetanus shot early yesterday and was released, and that he expected to be ready to get back to work in one week.

Skin infections a major issue for athletes

Common Dermatologic Infections in Athletes and Return-to-Play Guidelines -- Likness 111 (6): 373 -- Journal of the American Osteopathic Association.

Although the usual perspective on return to play for athletes is recovery from injury, an unheralded aspect on return to play involves potentially contagious skin infections. An estimated 8.5% of health conditions and injuries related to high school sports and 21% of health conditions and injuries related to college sports involve infectious diseases of the skin. In about half of these cases, the head, face, or neck is affected. The infectious agents are common microorganisms, including methicillin-resistant and methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus and Streptococcus bacteria, herpes viruses, and tinea fungi. The challenge for physicians is to provide proper treatment to patients within the return-to-play guidelines of a sport's governing body, resulting in rapid resolution of the condition, minimization of time spent out of the sport, and minimization of communicable spread of the disease.

MRSA and Artificial Turf - How long can it survive?

Community-Associated Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus au... : Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

Results: Survival was biphasic with a colony-forming unit drop from ∼5 × 107 to ∼5 × 105 after the first week followed by survival of between 104 and 103 bacteria until termination of the experiment (20-50 d). Survival was dependent on nutrients, and washed cells survived less than 1 d. Mucin could serve as a nutrient source and slightly increased surviving numbers to 104-105 bacteria. Biofilm formation did not influence survival. Conclusions: CA-MRSA survivability on artificial turf surfaces is dependent on the availability of nutrients. These results suggest that CA-MRSA could survive on artificial turf in significant numbers for 1 wk, and lower numbers for at least 1 month, if supplied with appropriate nutrients. Outdoor environmental conditions may affect these findings.

Zeldin Hosts Sports MRSA Roundtable - Sachem, NY Patch

Zeldin Hosts MRSA Roundtable - Sachem, NY Patch.

Sen. Lee Zeldin held a roundtable discussion at his office Monday on how to help schools combat MRSA. The meeting comes after Hauppauge wrestler Nick Mauriello Jr. was struck with a nearly fatal bout of MRSA this season. He was hospitalized Jan. 30 at Stony Brook University Medical Center and planned on attending classes at Hauppauge High School for the first time Tuesday. "My round-table discussion yesterday with leaders involved with student wresting was successful,” Zeldin said. “There was consensus on issues affecting both education and cleanliness of the sport. I believe that certain simple and cost effective standards can be applied across the entire state.

Happaugue High carefully cleans wrestling mats to avoid MRSA

Happaugue High carefully cleans wrestling mats to avoid MRSA | 7online.com.

A high school on Long Island is taking new, and somewhat expensive, steps to keep its athletes healthy. They are using high-tech equipment to kill germs from MRSA, a highly contagious illness. With the new machine, it looks like Chris Messina is mowing an imaginary lawn, but the contraption is actually using ultraviolet lights to kill germs. Related Content More: Contact the WABC-TV Long Island Bureau It's a task the Hauppauge High School's wrestling coach has never taken more seriously. "In 32 years I've never ever experienced anything that was this scary or even remotely near to this," he said. Last month, a member of his team almost died. Nick Mauriello was attacked at a wrestling meet by the so called superbug MRSA. "He almost died, absolutely. In the prime of his life. It went from a little muscle pull to being on a ventilator being in a coma. It was just a terrible terrible experience," adds Messina.

State senator wants tougher anti-MRSA measures

State senator wants tougher anti-MRSA measures.

A Long Island state senator is developing legislation to prevent athletes with bacterial diseases from participating until they are cleared by a doctor, Newsday reported. Sen. Lee Zeldin (R-Shirley), would also require wrestling mats to be cleaned before school practices and meets. "Even at the junior high level, the practices would really make you sweat," said Zeldin, a former wrestler at William Floyd Middle School. "The people around me, you'd see them catching ringworm. This is not a problem that just popped up now."

Study Doesn’t Find MRSA in Community Gyms

Study Doesn’t Find MRSA in Community Gyms - Health Blog - WSJ.

Researchers searching for MRSA, the drug-resistant staph bacteria, couldn’t find it in three community gyms — at least not in the places they looked. A new study by researchers from the University of Florida College of Medicine looked at a local high-school gym, a large university rec facility and a high-volume private gym in the Gainesville area, where staph is prevalent. So on three different occasions, researchers swabbed two separate gym mats, benches, dumbbells, cardio machines and weight machines in each gym at various times during the day, before and after the equipment was cleaned. Some gyms offered disinfectant wipes to users, and the equipment was tested after the wipes were used. None of the 240 samples were positive for MRSA or for the form of the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria that, unlike MRSA, is sensitive to the antibiotic methicillin. There are plenty of objects and places that weren’t tested, such as towels, locker-room benches, sinks and showers, of course, and it’s possible that a larger sample would produce different results.

New York has 10 page guide to preventing MRSA in schools

District Posts NYS Guide To Preventing MRSA - Hauppauge, NY Patch.

Hauppauge school officials have laid out in full details the recommended course of action for preventing MRSA infections. Following Patch's interview with Superintendent Patricia Sullivan-Kriss, a copy of the New York State Department of Health's 10-page manual for "Prevention of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) Infections In The School Setting" dated Dec. 9, 2008 was posted the district's website. The district's sanitization efforts actions since confirmation of MRSA in junior Nick Mauriello, who remains hospitalized in Stony Brook Hospital with a secondary infection Lemierre's syndrome, appear to be in compliance with the guide.

Staph infection keeps another wrestler out for season

Staph infection keeps McKibben out for season.

The University of Regina Cougars have lost one of their top female wrestlers for the season. Lisa McKibben, who went to the 2010 CIS championships and was expected to return to nationals this season, is out after battling a staph infection. "Absolutely, she will not compete for us this year," Cougars head coach Leo McGee confirmed Wednesday. "It's too early . We're thinking about her health, first and foremost." "It's pretty frustrating," McKibben, 20, said of losing a season to injury. "You want to come back as quickly as you can. It's difficult (to sit out), but I think it'll make me mentally tougher in the long run." McKibben, who has been dealing successfully with diabetes since being diagnosed in 2007, said she was admitted to hospital Nov. 25 because she had a fever and was having difficulty walking. Doctors eventually found a staph infection in a sacroiliac joint in her lower back and in the surrounding bones.

16-Year-Old Wrestler With MRSA Infection Improving

16-Year-Old Wrestler With MRSA Infection Improving - WPIX.

Like his nearly perfect wrestling record, 16-year-old Nicholas Maureillo is beating the odds, turning the corner on an extremely rare and deadly combination of both MRSA, an aggressive staph infection, and Lemierre's disease, a very serious and rare throat infection that can cause death. "We didn't want to tell him that, you know, 'listen you are fighting for life now,'" said Nicholas Maureillo Sr. He is still on a ventilator but able to talk to his parents. Nick likely contracted MRSA through cuts on his hands sustained in a series of competitive wrestling matches last month.

Granville postpones match because of MRSA :: Wrestling

Granville postpones match because of MRSA :: Wrestling :: PostStar.com.

In the wake of a Granville wrestler testing positive for MRSA, the school postponed all athletic events on Tuesday, and the Golden Horde’s wrestling match against Tamarac scheduled for Thursday was postponed until Jan. 20. The school and athletic facilities at Granville were given a thorough cleaning on Tuesday. Head coach Steve Palmer said the postponement a precautionary move, and said he would determine later in the week if the Horde would compete in Saturday’s Greg Rockwood Memorial Tournament at Galway. “I feel it’s an isolated incident, but you’ve got to take precautions,” Palmer said.

University of Toledo Receives NFL Charities Grant for Studying MRSA Spread in Artificial Turf

University of Toledo Receives NFL Charities Grant for Studying MRSA Spread in Artificial Turf.

The University of Toledo (Ohio) was one of 16 research facilities and organizations to receive a grant from the NFL Charities to conduct sports-related research on MRSA, according to a Toledo Blade news report. The UT team of researchers will study how long the bacterium lives in artificial turf system. MRSA causes approximately 19,000 deaths and 300,000 debilitating infections in the U.S. each year, according to the report. Artificial turf could present a risk to football players because it promotes the spreading of the bacterium.

Student's staph infection prompts cleaning at Tucson school

Student's staph infection prompts cleaning at Tucson school.

A wrestler diagnosed with a staph infection earlier this week has prompted Cholla High Magnet School to do some deep cleaning. The student was diagnosed Tuesday but it’s not clear if he has the standard infection or MRSA, which is a form of staph that is resistant to antibiotics.  As a result, the southwest side school has closed off the wrestling room until it can be properly disinfected, said Cholla Principal Frank Armenta. There is also a plan in place to wipe all shared surfaces and custodians have been called in to disinfect higher-risk areas such as classrooms, desks and other areas where the infected student may have been.

Professional Sports Taking MRSA Very Seriously

MRSA makes germophobes look genius - TrueHoop Blog - ESPN.

Before training camp, there was Shaquille O'Neal, getting a Q-tip up the nose, in the name of making sure he is not bringing staph into the locker room. The Celtics, you see, had an issue a few years ago where Paul Pierce, Delonte West and several others had some little injuries swell up perniciously, and dangerously. Since then, they have been careful. Very careful. Bucher writes: When other NBA teams heard about the Celtics' outbreak, some instituted new policies. The Spurs, for one, tell arena workers to keep fans from touching players as they run out to the court, and players are reminded to wash their hands thoroughly after autograph sessions and community appearances. But no team is as meticulous as the C's. Everyone in Boston's basketball operations -- from GM to administrative assistant -- is swabbed. Those who test positive receive a staph-killing cream in their nostrils each day for a week. Everyone is instructed to sanitize and cover all wounds and to shower before climbing in a hot or cold tub. Players soak alone and drain the tub afterward. And they are asked to please, please, report any cut, scrape or bite that appears to be getting worse. Posters outlining the grisly effects of MRSA hang in the training room. A player in need of further motivation need look no further than the locker room.

Van ISD battling staph infections, MRSA more than normal

Van ISD battling staph infections, MRSA more than normal - KLTV 7 News Tyler, Longview, Jacksonville |.

An East Texas school district says it is battling staph infections and MRSA like they have never seen before. Van ISD says 12 high school students, most of them varsity football players, have been infected, several with the super bug that can be deadly. Parents, medical and school officials say they are doing all the can to keep it under control. "Staph has been a part of athletic programs forever," said David Goff, Director of Operations at Van ISD. "But, the new phenomenon is that we're dealing with this MRSA and it's so dangerous and can be deadly."

NBA All-Star Grant Hill Advises Athlete's on MRSA Avoidance

NBA All-Star Grant Hill's Advice to Parents of Athletes | ModernMom.com.

Grant's own experience with MRSA led him to his partnership with the organization. Here's his story: "Well...I had a MRSA infection. It was very scary, and I was rushed to the hospital. It was probably the closest I’ve been to dying. I had a skin graft, and it was a long recovery…not just physically, but mentally and emotionally. It was something that I don’t want anyone else to go through, so I’ve partnered with the Clorox Company, Swap Me Sports and the Stop MRSA Now Coalition to try to bring awareness and bring attention to have people learn about MRSA - what it is, what it can do and what you can do to prevent it. I jumped at the opportunity, and we’re doing our part to spread the message."