New Artificial Turf a MRSA Risk|ABC 13

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New Artificial Turf a MRSA Risk

posted 10:57 pm Tue October 23, 2007 - Lynchburg, VA

tags: mrsa • school • death • football

We've told you how common the MRSA staph infection really is, particularly among hospital patients. But you may not realize athletic field surfaces can pose a similar risk.

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A study by Environment and Human Health Incorporated found synthetic turf was a main contributing factor to a staph outbreak at a college in Connecticut. It's a popular new surface, recently installed at Liberty University and both E.C. Glass and Amherst High Schools.

Schools say it can prevent injuries, but they're also acknowledging different risks from infection.

Chris Casola, Athletic Trainer - "In a sport like football, where there's contact -- where the opponents are always in contact with each other, there's just more ways for the staph infection to get into the blood, to get into the body."

At Liberty University things were at their worst a few years back. That was when their playing surface was like a carpet. Talk about rug burn.

Casola - "We probably, just by replacing our turf here to the new field-type turf, have cut down 70 or 80 percent on abrasions that we have."

Their new field is a lot like the kind just put in at Amherst, E.C. Glass and other high schools in our area. Rubber pellets and synthetic fibers give it a much more natural feel. It means fewer cuts, but a whole different set of problems.

Casola - "Most of the bacteria is destroyed by the sun and the rain. But, you would think that further down, where the sun can't get to that bacteria in the lower surface of the turf that it could grow."

And, when bacteria is readily available, you don't need those old rug burns to get infected.

Casola - "All the staph needs is a way to get into the body."

That's why in locker rooms at Liberty, trainers are preaching prevention.

Casola - "Any suspicious lesion that they may have, they come and get it check out right away. And, if we're at all suspicious about it, we get our doctors involved and we get them on an antibiotic very quickly."

But, they say, ultimately players need to help themselves.

Casola - "If the athletes themselves don't practice proper hygiene, if they don't shower immediately after practice, if they don't constantly wash their hands, you can clean all the surfaces you want, but the bacteria actually grows on people."

While staph infections have been found in athletes around our viewing area, none have been directly attributed to any school's playing surface.

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