Recent outbreaks of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus
aureus, known as MRSA, have VCU athletic
trainers urging VCU athletes and students to practice
good hygiene.
“You can tell an athlete, you can tell anyone, this is
something that has the potential to cause serious infection,”
head women’s athletic trainer Wendy Sheppard
said. “Unfortunately, it doesn’t mean they’re going to
spend the quarters to clean their sheets.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention Web site, MRSA skin infections are
transmitted through frequent skin-to-skin contact,
crowded areas, open wounds, contaminated items or
surfaces and lack of cleanliness.
Locker rooms and dormitory rooms in old buildings
make the perfect breeding grounds for such bacteria.
In addition to a VCU female athlete currently being
treated for MRSA, Sheppard said, she has seen multiple
cases of the infection, including one case earlier this
year.
Although MRSA is a resistant form of staph infection
that can lead to serious illness, amputation or death,
treatment and prevention are relatively simple. Sheppard
said there is no need to panic.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” she said. “We do take it
seriously, but nine times out of 10 with a MRSA case,
when it’s caught early enough, all we do is drain the
wound.”
Sheppard also said if the infection is caught quickly
enough, patients are not even put on antibiotics.
When an athlete comes to the training room with
a suspicious lesion, Sheppard said, that athlete is immediately
referred to the Student Health Center. The
doctors there will determine whether a wound needs
draining and if further testing is required.
VCU women’s basketball sophomore Kita Waller
said her team received warnings from both coaches
and trainers about proper personal hygiene.
“They say we need to make sure that we shower
and take care of ourselves, especially after we train,”
Waller said.
Waller also said while it is important to be mindful
of infectious outbreaks, worrying too much can distract
athletes from focusing on their performance.
This recent VCU outbreak of staph infection comes
shortly after the October death of a Staunton River
High School student infected with MRSA in Bedford
County, Va.
Sheppard said the death is tragic, but such incidents
remind schools to tighten their sanitation standards.
“It’s a kick in the pants that the university needs,”
she said. “It gets things done that need to get done.”