MRSA Common In College Football, Soccer Athletes; Staph Infections Twice As Likely In Contact Sport Players
College athletes who play contact sports are more likely to be colonized by Staph bugs than others.
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Traditionally, it was believed that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) was found among people with weak immune systems living in health care environments. But the MRSA superbug is now also showing up in healthy people who have not been hospitalized, and most vulnerable among these are contact sport athletes. According to a new study being presented at IDWeek (a forum for health professionals), college athletes who play football, soccer, and other contact sports are more prone to being infected and also spread the bug among their teammates.
Also called “staph,” MRSA is commonly carried in the nose, throat, or skin of healthy people. It may be harmless while it doesn’t enter the body, but once it does get in, it can cause a range of skin and soft tissue infections. Most staph infections are also easy to treat with antibiotics. But overuse of antibiotics has created strains like MRSA that have become resistant to common antibiotics such as methicillin, amoxicillin, oxacillin, and others. Doctors often have to administer less conventional and more powerful antibiotics to treat them.
