WTH is MRSA

Raymond James Stadium, Tampa Bay, FL

What the heck is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus?  If you follow sports or work in the medical field, you have heard the term MRSA before.  As we get ready for Sunday’s Eagles game, there is debate of the cleanliness of Tampa Bay’s facilities since three of their players have contracted this infection.  This blog post will look at what exactly MRSA is, how it could be contracted, and how it is treated.

Staph (Staphylococcus Aureus) infection

A staph infection is a bacterial infection that can cause a number of diseases depending on the area and tissue of the body that is infected.  People who have a weakened immune system, surgical incision, damage to the skin, or chronic conditions such as diabetes, cancer, or vascular disease are at an increased risk of infection.  Infection of the skin typically presents as a red, swollen, and painful area and may have an abscess or boil.  If Staph has infected the blood stream, fevers and chills are common.  Staph is commonly treated with antibiotics, but surgery is sometimes required depending on the location and extent of the infection.

MRSA

This is not really what MRSA looks like

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is a type of a Staph infection that is resistant to the class of antibiotics commonly used to treat the infection.  This “Superbug” requires a different cocktail of antibiotics to treat, and sometimes necessitates IV delivery of the antibiotics to eliminate the infection.  Treatment can last weeks to several months.  Lawrence Tynes, who would have been the kicker for the Bucs, was diagnosed with MRSA over the summer and has yet to play for Tampa Bay this season.   

His wife tweeted this picture in August of Lawrence taking antibiotics through a PICC line.

Amanda Tynes (via Twitter)

Concern with the training room

As we said before, individuals who have damage to the skin, including scrapes or cuts, could be susceptible to Staph infections if exposed.  According to an article by Neely and Maley¹, MRSA can live from at least 1 day up to over 90 days on fabric surfaces.  There are products out there that can clean and kill MRSA, such as this one, but it must come into contact with the disease to be effective.  Athletes sustain scrapes and small cuts all of the time, which can make them more susceptible to picking up an infection.  This is especially important when they are in close contact with each other in a common area such as the athletic training room.  According to this article in the Washington Post, the Tampa Bay Bucs already treated their facility earlier this season after both Lawrence Tynes and Carl Nicks were diagnosed with MRSA.  After the facility was cleaned, Nicks had a recurrence of his infection, and a third Buc, Jonathan Banks, was just diagnosed with the disease.  This is not the first time a team has had to deal with a MRSA outbreak in their complex.  The 2003 St. Louis Rams had 8 players with the infection, and players like LeCharles Bentley have had their careers cut short by post-operative MRSA.

At the time of this blog, the Bucs brought an independent assessment team to determine the safety of the facilities for both Eagles and Tampa Bay players.  If additional measures are needed, the team will shut down their training room and locker room for an intense cleaning to disinfect all surfaces or potential sources of contamination.

Ken Guzzardo, PT, DPT, OCS, SCS

3 Dimensional Physical Therapy

kguzzardo@3dpt.com

Lit cited

Neely, A, Maley, M; “Survival of Enterococci and Staphylococi on Hospital Fabrics and Plastic”; Journal of Clinical Microbiology; 2000 February; 38(2); pp 724-726.