Not too long ago, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), sometimes spelled MERSA, a staph infection, was confined to hospitals, hospices, prisons, and poverty-stricken areas. But now, the ’superbug’, which is able to resist most antibiotics and can cause death within 72 hours in some cases, has been found in places such as health and fitness clubs, daycare centers, schools, and other public places. This strain is called CA-MRSA. If you belong to a health club, you need to be aware of your increased risk of getting MRSA infection and how to protect yourself before, during, and after working out.
Preventing MRSA Exposure
Even though many health clubs have increased their cleaning regimen to include power washing locker rooms each day and hiring additional employees to monitor locker rooms during peak hours, which include mornings, the lunch hour, and late afternoon, you are still at risk if you don’t protect yourself.
This includes:
Washing hands thoroughly throughout the day
Tending to any cuts, scrapes, and other wounds immediately with antiseptic and bandages to prevent infection
Wiping down all gym equipment before using it
Avoid sharing towels and other personal items
Disposing of used towels properly
Wearing rubber shower or patio shoes while in the locker room
Ask the manager of the health club what precautions they have taken to increase MRSA prevention
By practicing good personal hygiene and covering any exposed wounds, you can dramatically decrease your risk of becoming infected.
Signs of MRSA Transmission
Because MRSA is transferred most often through open wounds and small cuts, it’s important to keep these areas covered when using gym equipment and when using the locker room at health clubs. Once you’ve been exposed to MRSA, there may not be many warning signs. While most people develop a rash or experience flu-like symptoms, others do not have any noticeable warning signs., When discovered in its early stages, it can be treated but because the MRSA infection spreads so quickly, for some people it’s too late by the time they go to a hospital.
Unfortunately, MRSA mimics flu symptoms, which is common during colder months because more people tend to stay indoors and close to each other. If you have flu-like symptoms, you should visit your doctor in order to treat the problem as soon as possible.
Impact of MRSA Infection in the Health Club Industry
In order to protect their patrons, health clubs have begun spending more in staff and gym equipment and locker room maintenance in order to keep MRSA from destroying their business. Many health clubs have switched to hands-free equipment such as sensor monitored hand driers, sanitary wipes that have anti-bacterial properties, and remodeling locker rooms to include surfaces that kill bacteria.
Depending on the size of a health club and the level of cleaning necessary to protect patrons, some health clubs are spending between $1,000 and $1,500 a month. This includes making sure all equipment, locker rooms, towels, and other items in the clubs are safe to use. But these costs are much lower than what health clubs would pay if shut down for a day or longer. Losing patrons and hiring a professional HAZMAT crew are just some of the costs health clubs would be responsible for.
To put these costs into perspective, a few months ago, the Bedford County School District, located in Virginia, had six of its schools cleaned after a few students were diagnosed with MRSA infection. The total cost was about $216,000. This is one of the many reasons why health clubs have improved their cleaning methods.
While these cleaning methods are 99.9% effective, they are still allowing 19,000 deaths and 90,000 cases of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus per year and growing. An old product in a new package has recently been introduced to the market and is 100% effective against MRSA superbug bacteria and bacterium in general. It is a safe to use, proactive product killing the bacteria before it gets into your body. It’s called chlorine dioxide and has been used for killing bacteria in water and wood pulp for over 100 years.
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Check it out: Increased Risk of MRSA in Health Clubs and Other Public Areas
I wasn't aware about this disease. It is so lethal that even after it's infection a person can die within 72 hours. I appreciate for this post. It is really worthy of reading and also important for awareness.
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Posted by: Ashok Patidar | 04/15/2011 at 08:16 หลังเที่ยง