Kotekitae No More

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Van Canna
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Joined: Thu Mar 11, 1999 6:01 am

Kotekitae No More

Post by Van Canna »

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health ... in_scourge

~~
In the early 1990s, MRSA started appearing outside of hospitals, in clusters of athletes, prisoners, military trainees, and intravenous drug users.

Specialists discovered that a new type of MRSA was being transmitted by the sharing of towels and razors, the touching of contaminated surfaces such as gym equipment, and by close physical contact.
So do we now, prudently, do away with arm rubbing and pounding as well as leg pounding?

If not, why is what we do safe?
Van
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Van Canna
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Post by Van Canna »

MRSA passes through skin-to-skin contact

Goodbye prearranged kumites :?

All kata queens rejoyce :wink:
Van
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Bill Glasheen
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Post by Bill Glasheen »

Hmm... Something else to give the obsessive compulsives and hypochondriacs to worry about. :lol:

Yep... It's a problem. Basically we're talking about Staphylococcus aureus, which is a bacterium present everywhere. Normally they don't bother healthy people. But staph infections kill people in hospitals because their wounds are exposed and they sometimes are immunosuppressed.

Normally people suffering from superficial or more systemic staph infections could be treated with antibiotics. But because people have been abusing antibiotics, we now are breeding super bugs that are resistant to most if not all known antibiotics. MRSA is one of those super bugs, and it's obviously becoming alarmingly prevalent.

The biggest problem isn't with karateka, but rather with grapplers. With the athletes grinding their bodies into each other and on mats, they have a higher risk of transmitting the bacteria. Wrestlers unfortunately are vulnerable to all kinds of skin infections including body lice, scabies, herpes, impetigo, etc. Vigilance and extra attention to cleanliness is important.

On a personal level, the recommendations at the end of the article are important. And all these items are just common sense.
  • Don't share towels, razors, or uniforms when playing sports or working out.
  • Put a clean towel over gym equipment or sauna bench before using.
  • Shower after working out.
  • Keep cuts and scratches clean and covered with a bandage until healed.
  • Avoid hot tubs if you've got an open wound.
  • Wash hands regularly.
  • Before allowing healthcare workers to touch you, ask if they've washed their hands.
  • Use antibiotics sparingly.
  • If already infected, make sure that open wounds are covered with clean, dry bandages and that linens and clothes that may have become soiled are washed in hot water and laundry detergent and placed in a hot dryer rather than air-drying.
  • See a doctor if you have a skin cut that appears infected and isn't healing. Don't try to drain a boil yourself.
- Bill
IJ
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Post by IJ »

The new MRSA is friskier than the older ones. It is now the most isolated cause of superficial skin infections in emergency rooms and interestingly, it's less an issue of antibiotic overuse than the rapid spread of a more virulent pathogen. In fact a single strain among many MRSA's has become by far the predominant type in the community ("USA 300").

However, while it always makes sense to kee your personal items to yourself, and to exclude people with open wounds from competing and to keep your skin clean and wounds protected, and deal sensibly with any suspected infections, I wouldn't let it run your life. Those are sensible precautions we've always had reasons to follow and in that sense, nothing is new. Well, few things...

--if treated for a superficial skin infection, especially a boil / abscess, make sure you get something active against MRSA

--don't accept antibiotics for abscesses < 5cm unless there is spreading skin infection too.

--don't hang out in jails, with the homeless, drug users, etc--not without washing. Lots of MRSA.
--Ian
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