Protect Your Active Kids from MRSA

Have you ever heard of MRSA?  I hadn't and had to look it up online.  Here's a definition:

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are a type of staphylococcus or "staph" bacteria that are resistant to many antibiotics. Staph bacteria, like other kinds of bacteria, normally live on your skin and in your nose, usually without causing problems. MRSA is different from other types of staph because it cannot be treated with certain antibiotics such as methicillin.

These infections can occur among people who are likely to have cuts or wounds and who have close contact with one another, such as members of sports teams. This type of MRSA is called community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA).

Here are some ways to avoid spreading MRSA:

1. Cover your wounds with clean, dry bandages and follow your doctor’s instructions on caring for your wound.
2. Keep your hands clean. You, your family, and other people with whom you are in close contact should wash their hands often with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially after changing the bandage or touching the wound.
3. Do not share towels, washcloths, razors, clothing, or other items that may have had contact with your wound or a bandage. Wash your sheets, towels, and clothes with warm water and detergent and dry them in a hot dryer, if possible.  
4. Avoid sharing cups, food, utensils, towels between you and your children.  (You can't always avoid this - but it will help keep the spread of germs, colds, etc down too.)
5. Keep your environment clean by wiping all frequently touched surfaces (such as countertops, doorknobs, and light switches) with a disinfectant.

MRSA is starting a campaign to help stop MRSA from spreading called collect, disinfect, donate:

Protect Your Active Kids from MRSA

With fall sports in full swing, equipment cleanliness and item-sharing on and off the field may get overlooked between carpools, homework and bedtime.  But, skin infections like MRSA, a potentially life threatening antibiotic resistant Staph infection, are the cause of 56 percent of all infectious disease outbreaks in competitive sports in the U.S. 

It’s important that as parents and coaches we do our part to help prevent the spread of MRSA.  You can begin by getting involved in the Equip them Well program through three simple steps – collect, disinfect, donate.