Staph Warnings Go Out at State: ; Nine Football Players Positive for Infection

Oct 24, 10:44 PM

Current Headlines: By James I. Davison

jdavison@wvgazette.com

West Virginia State University students, faculty and staff are being warned about a drug-resistant form of staph infection that nine football players contracted.

Out of 14 players who were tested for the bacteria, at least nine told athletic officials they tested positive for Methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA. Three were hospitalized, but have been released.

Fliers and posters about MRSA will be placed at residence halls, and faculty and staff received an e-mail with information, said State spokeswoman Pat Dickinson.

"We just wanted to make sure especially that our students have the facts and they know exactly what we're dealing with," Dickinson said. "Also ways to prevent it and what the university is doing to contain it."

The school's Office of Student Affairs received several phone calls from concerned students and parents who heard about the outbreak on Tuesday, she said.

In the future, students will be able to be tested on campus for MRSA, Dickinson said.

"The students will be able to come to our own health center here and get the test done," she said.

Staph bacteria, including MRSA, can cause skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful or have pus or other drainage. More serious infections may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections or surgical wound infections.

Reports about MRSA have become widespread since a Virginia high school student died after being hospitalized with the infection.

While MRSA doesn't respond to penicillin and related antibiotics, it can be treated with other drugs.

The infected football players at State first started having skin problems in mid-September. Professional cleaning crews scrubbed the locker and weight rooms used by football players last week.

"Right now, it is just football players. It hasn't occurred anywhere else," Dickinson said.

Because MRSA is most commonly spread by skin-to-skin contact, athletes with open lesions won't be allowed to play until their wounds have healed, Dickinson said.

Two of nine football players who tested positive for MRSA have already been cleared to play, athletics department spokesman Sean McAndrews told The Associated Press on Tuesday.

Athletic trainers gave the approval for them to play, Dickinson said.

"Once the wound is healed and they've started to take the antibiotics, it's safe for them to play," she said.

None of the nine players is a starter, and Saturday's home game between the Division II school and Glenville State is unaffected, McAndrews said.

"We're sanitizing everything," he said. "We're doing everything we can to get the facility in a safe environment."

School officials met with the athletes Monday night to discuss the situation and explain how to spot new potential problems.

Officials from the Kanawha-Charleston Health Department plan to visit the football players in Institute next Monday, said Executive Director Kerry Gateley.

Staph infections traditionally have been most common in hospitals, but they are also known to spread among athletes on football and wrestling teams, he said.

"Obviously football involves a lot of physical contact," Gateley said. "They practice among themselves and the practice is certainly going to involve a lot of skin-to-skin contact."

Gateley said they will tell players that the best way to avoid spreading the infection is with good personal hygiene and avoiding sharing equipment without properly sanitizing it.

The Associated Press contributed to this report. To contact staff writer James I. Davison, use e-mail or call 348-5119.

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