Yes, that very annoying itch between your toes. You scratch and scratch until it becomes raw, cracked, and / or bleeding. Most of us athletes have had to deal with this very annoying problem at least once, but nothing a little over-the-counter medicine can’t handle most of the time. (Myths & Facts About Athlete’s Foot) However, it could be much worse in that we could have picked up another type of infection in the shower. You probably have heard of MRSA, a drug resistant staph infection that you can’t treat with over the counter medicine. It stands for “methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus”. Say that ten times fast. As for myself, I think I will stick with just MRSA. If you Google MRSA and look at the images, you will be amazed at the damage this little microbe can cause. This superbug can be deadly, and according to the MRSA Research Center at the University of Chicago, 20,000 people die each year after being infected with MRSA, and many of those are children. An estimated 90,000+ people get infected every year, and that number is increasing. More people die from MRSA each year than AIDS.
So, why do we bring up locker rooms? Many of us use them while playing sports or going to the gym to work out. During our physical activity, we may get bumps, bruises, or scrapes. Innocent enough, but that scrape from the turf or rug burn from doing 1,000 sit-ups can be an entry point for this deadly superbug. The CDC website has an entire page dedicated to MRSA education for athletes and what can be done to protect yourself. CDC: Advice for Athletes
Gym operators and school administrators also owe it to all of us to do what they can to prevent these very deadly infections, and there are a number of layers of protection that can be implemented to protect all of us. It starts with you, and making sure that you wash your hands often and wash properly. SaniSolve can also provide antimicrobial treatments to locker rooms, sports equipment, artificial turf fields, wrestling mats, and many other surfaces associated with the athlete and general public. Please educate yourself on this deadly disease, or feel free to contact your local SaniSolve system expert. Just remember to “SaniSolve It”.
(Further information can also be found on WebMD: MRSA Slideshow from WebMD )
