Scott McPherson's Web Presence

An excellent article via Bloomberg.com is circulating today.  It describes the growing problem the state of Texas is having with MRSA, particularly in its prep football stadiums.

Texas loves its high school football arguably better than any other state in the Union.  Many high school stadiums are fancier, better-equipped and have a seating capacity larger than many Division 1 college counterparts.  It is not uncommon to see a Jumbotron in some stadiums, along with skyboxes and -- artificial turf.

In earlier blogs (search keyword MRSA), I have mentioned the problems indoor stadiums have containing this deadly bacteria.  Recall that the NFL's St. Louis Rams had to disinfect all their playing and solid surfaces awhile back, because they were a MRSA Petri dish and were also passing the pathogen to opposing players. 

But now the problem is moving outside. Some snippets from the Bloomberg story:

Texas has artificial turf at 18 percent of its high school football stadiums, according to Web site Texasbob.com. It also has an MRSA infection rate among players that is 16 times higher than the estimated national average, according to three studies by the Texas Department of State Health Services.

``This is a disease that can kill you,'' said Carolina Espinoza, a graduate epidemiology student at the University of Texas in Houston, who helped conduct one of the studies. ``If I were a football player, I would be alarmed.''

At least 276 football players were infected with MRSA from 2003 through 2005, a rate of 517 for each 100,000, according to the Texas studies. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta reports a rate for the general population of 32 in 100,000.

Football players often become infected at the site of a turf burn and are misdiagnosed, said David Smith, co-author of a study showing that MRSA-related hospitalizations in the U.S. more than doubled from 1999 to 2005.

``The turf burns themselves are just the kind of minor skin injury that MRSA can exploit,'' said Elliot Pellman, medical liaison for the National Football League, which also has had infections among its players.

Football dominates high school sports in Texas, which has more participants than any other state. Seventy-four schools have stadiums seating more than 10,000. The sport provides 22,041 full-time jobs and generates $2.88 billion in annual spending, said Ray Perryman, president of Perryman Group, a Waco economic and financial analysis firm.

MRSA causes more deaths than any of the 51 infectious diseases tracked by the CDC, including AIDS, according to CDC data. The agency doesn't require medical professionals to report MRSA cases.

Texas plans a pilot program next year making MRSA a reportable illness in three regions, said Bryan Alsip, assistant health director for San Antonio.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=alxhrJDn.cdc

As you know from reading my bio, I am heavily involved in high school football here in Florida and specifically at (Tallahassee) Lincoln High School, where NFL Pro Bowler Antonio Cromartie (yes, THAT Antonio Cromartie), Pat Watkins, Pro Bowler and Super Bowl ring-holder Kevin Carter, Craphonso Thorpe and other current or former NFL players and a massive list of college alumni played.   Or, more specifically, where all the local high schools play football.  the teams play on natural grass, which is not immune to MRSA either. 

Regrettably, in the third-largest state in the Union, Florida's governing high school sports organization is apparently either unaware of or is downplaying the nation's growing concern with MRSA.  The Florida High School Athletic Association's Website, www.fhsaa.org, only contains three references to MRSA, and two of them are within minutes of 2004 committee meetings.  A third reference is a link to a National Federation of High School Associations 4-page paper on MRSA.  None are on the main page, and are instead buried deep within the site.

Big deal.

Last year and with much fanfare, the State of Florida instituted mandatory steroids testing for its student-athletes.  That is symbolically important, and maybe they'll even catch an athlete or two.  But in an area that matters much more, and affects far, far, far more students in and out of athletics -- namely, the prevention and mitigation of a potentially deadly staph infection that footballers, wrestlers and weightlifters are especially susceptible to, but any student can catch -- the State's high school athletic association is absolutely mute.  

I am sure this is not limited to Florida; how does your state stack up on the issue? 

Ask your coach.  If s/he doesn't know the acronym "MRSA," you have your answer.