Why we shouldn't take chances with staph
28 Oct, 2008 By: Ron Hall Athletic Turf NewsThe Cleveland Browns, the NFL team closest to my home and my heart, is one of six NFL teams that have never played in a Super Bowl. It's not likely the Browns will play in the next Super Bowl. As of this writing, the team is 3-4.
Recently, star tight end Kellen Winslow publicly blasted team management, partly because he was upset that it did not reveal his recent 3-day stay in a local hospital was caused by a staph infection. He missed several games because of the infection.
Winslow's unhappiness aside, there are other reasons why Cleveland will not play this coming Feb. 1 in Tampa. And they include one very small one. The tiny staph bacteria Staphylococcus aureushas done as much to keep Cleveland away from its Super Bowl dreams in recent years as any pair of 300-lb. pass rushers.
A continuing problem
This is the second staph infection that Winslow suffered since he wrecked his motorcycle May 1, 2005, and tore up his right knee. Following surgery, the knee became infected with staph, and it took him six weeks to recover from that particular infection. His latest bout with the bacteria, obviously less severe, was the seventh reported by Browns' players since 2005.
Others who had it were former Browns center LeCharles Bentley, receiver Braylon Edwards, former safety Brian Russell, former linebacker Ben Taylor and receiver Joe Jurevicious, who is still recovering after contracting the infection two weeks after a knee surgery in January 2008. But it's been Bentley who has suffered the most. After damaging his patella tendon in July 2006 he has undergone three additional surgeries because of complication from the staph infection. He's not expected to ever play professional football again.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer newspaper reported on Monday, Oct. 21, that three of the staph infections were contracted post-surgery at the same local hospital. Hospital-acquired staph infections are a huge problem. Understandably, hospitals are not eager to share this with patients or the public. Other familiar names in professional sports who have become infected following surgical procedures include star quarterback of the New England Patriots Tom Brady, Cleveland Cavs basketball player Drew Gooden, Boston Celtics forward Paul Pierce and former all-star linebacker Junior Seau.
Staph infections are common
Staph infections are among the most common types of sports infections. Most appear as skin infections, such as a painful pimple or boil.
But, in some instances they resist treatment, especially when they enter the bloodstream where they can infect the lungs, bones, joints, heart oentral nervous system. The most serious infections result from what is known as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) , which, as the name implies, is resistant to most antibiotics.
Not all staph infections occur inside of hospitals. Infections also result from what is referred to as community-acquired staph. Actually, there are many types of staph bacteria, most of them causing just minor health problems. People commonly carry the bacteria in their noses or on their skin. They're usually transferred where there's close person-to-person contact. It's only when the bacteria enter the body through an opening in the skin (perhaps through a floor burn or razor nick, for example) that it results in infection.
Athletes are susceptible
Staph can thrive in athletic training facilities such as wrestling mats and weight training equipment. But they can as also reside on towels, razors or any surface that comes in intimate contact with the human body. The bacteria can live for days depending upon conditions. All of that has been well documented.
Not so well documented, at least not to the same extent, is the likelihood of contracting a staph infection on synthetic turf, although it appears more and more likely bacteria can be present there. There is evidence that this is the case, although turf managers would welcome clearer evidence yet.
The explosion in the installation of synthetic turf sports fields this past decade (between 800-1,000 will be built this coming year), has raised obvious concerns about the presence of disease-causing bacteria on the surface of or within the infill of synthetic fields. This concern has thrust sports turf managers uncomfortably into the middle of the staph picture.
This is unfamiliar territory for professionals trained and more proficient at maintaining turfgrass and repairing clay infields.
Making the tough call
Not only must sports field managers learn how to maintain synthetic turf that often receive 5-10 times more activity than turfgrass fields, they're also charged with making the decision or asked their opinion of whether or not to treat synthetic fields with a product to kill bacteria.
Providing safe conditions for the athletes that use their facilities is their number one responsibility, after all.
This has been a tough call for them in light of budget pressures and exaggerated expectations of maintenance cost savings associated with synthetic turf fields.
Adding to the difficulty of deciding whether or not to treat is uncertainty about the relative risk of contracting a staph infection (including the more serious MSRA) on synthetic fields.
Even so, increasing numbers of professional teams and universities, in particular, have decided that the risk, whatever it is, is too great to ignore. In almost all cases, they treat all the surfaces that athletes come in contact with — both inside and outside as staph can be carried from one surface to another.
These high-profile and well-funded programs generally contract a professional service that applies a product specifically formulated to kill bacteria.
Are these treatments warranted? Are they necessary? Are they worth the cost?
These sports entities obviously think they are, and they figure the cost of treatment into the very real ongoing costs of maintaining synthetic turf.
But, let's go back to the case of the Cleveland Browns who suffered a rash of serious infections. While several of them have reportedly been traced back to hospitals following surgical procedures, others have not, and are presumed to have been contracted elsewhere, perhaps the team's training camp?
Training room hazard
The team's 13-acre training facility in a southwestern Cleveland suburb sports three regulation-sized natural grass practice fields, a single indoor (70-yard) synthetic practice field, an administration building, weight rooms, locker rooms and other related training facilities, plenty of surfaces for staph to be present.
The infections are a huge concern to the Browns obviously, and the team now regularly sanitizes its facilities, reports the Cleveland Plain Dealer.
Prudence demands action
The question sports field managers must ask themselves, in light of the experience of the Browns and, several years early, the NFL St. Louis Rams that had similar problems with staph, is whether they should be concerned with bacterial infections on synthetic turf?
In light of the seriousness of the problem, the answer is yes.
Synthetic turf playing surfaces require regular maintenance, which includes cleaning and now treatment to eliminate the likelihood of infections.
Sports field managers must convince the people that they report to that there are equipment needs and real costs involved with maintaining synthetic turf fields, including the added cost of protecting against bacterial infections.
The number one responsibility of sports field managers, after all, is the safety of the athletes using their fields.
And if you're curious, in addition to Cleveland, the other NFL teams that have never played in a Super Bowl are the Jacksonville Jaguars, Houston Texans, Detroit Lions, New Orleans Saints and Arizona Cardinals.
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