by Bill Pennington,
NY Times October 6, 2017
I have serious questions about the value and validity of
articles like this. They tend to scare
people and promote health anxiety and lead to cyberchondria. However, we should know what our patients are
reading and what frightens them.
Article in Full
"Although the most recent study by the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention, in 2015, reported a decrease in MRSA infections in the
general public since 2005, it is difficult to tell what is happening in locker
rooms because there has been no study specifically on sports. Anecdotally,
based on the number of cases they have treated in recent years, athletic
trainers and team doctors nationwide have insisted that MRSA cases in sports
declined substantially in the last decade. But they, too, have no data.
In
the N.F.L., the effort to curb MRSA now borders on a crusade, with an official
prevention manual that is 315 pages long. There are meticulous protocols for
dozens of procedures… [What about C.T.E. I thought while reading this?]
[There
have been many MRSA scares.] About 10
years ago, a Bowdoin athlete was unaware he had contracted MRSA, and with a
contagious, open wound on his leg, he wandered around the campus — to the dining
hall, the weight room, the locker room and the coaches’ offices."
 |
| from "BiologiyStories" web site |
Staph infections have been in sports for a long time.
ReplyDeleteI think the answer is in early recognition and treatment.
From a dermatology colleague: "The coaches send them in to wrestle even when they hav an issue or the athlete hides it.
MRSA is a scare tactic now. Nearly half of Staph infections are MRSA.
Fog won't help.