MRSA Goes to Washington; Deadly Staph Infection ‘Super Bug’ Found in Congressional Gym¹

“The fact that MRSA has turned up on Capitol Hill hopefully will serve to underscore the urgency of dealing with a life-threatening infection that has migrated from hospitals, nursing homes, and other healthcare settings into more common public areas. “

IT’S AN INTERANTIONAL PROBLEM

• Dr. John Bartlett, past president of the Infectious Diseases Society of America and chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, Md., said that the drug-resistant germ is becoming increasingly common, both in the United States and elsewhere. “This is a huge national and international epidemic,” Bartlett said. “It’s all over.”
• Ireland: Seven MRSA deaths in last 10 days: Dawson ,Tuesday, 22 November 2005 17:12
• London: “CA-MRSA pneumonia is particularly dangerous due to the rapid, aggressive nature of the infection” Professor Mark Enright Imperial College, London
• Europe: A survey conducted by the European Antimicrobial Resistance Surveillance System indicates that rates of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) are high in Britain (46.1%), Israel (44.1%), and Greece (38.6%).
• USA: The researchers, from Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, say death rates following infection may be higher than 50%.
• In October 2005 (MRSA) was isolated from a Dutch soccer player with a skin infection. In time, other members of the soccer team developed skin infections ……. We identified 11 of 56 people with an MRSA infection, 9 soccer players and 2 room-mates.
• Ricky Lannetti was once the picture of health — a big, strong college football player’” On Dec. 6, 2003, one week after his last game, Lannetti died as a result of contracting MRSA
• New York: City health officials are blaming the tragic death of a Brooklyn boy on the drug-resistant superbug that has raised fears across the country. The seventh-grader, identified by neighbors and students as Omar Rivera Jr., succumbed Oct. 14, 2007. “This child died of a staph infection, particularly a resistant staph infection called MRSA,” said Dr. Don Weiss of the city Health Department.
• CDC reports that MRSA now kills more people in the USA than AIDS. A recent report contends nearly 20,000 people nationwide have been killed by the superbug in one year.
With 20-30 million Americans visiting health clubs several times per week, and comparable memberships in Europe’s fitness centers, it is incumbent upon them to re-evaluate their cleaning and personal hygiene protocols
RECOMMENDATIONS: Since disinfectants and cleaning agents de-activate within an hour and ½, most facilities and equipment are un-protected 90% of the time. Goldshield, with its residual effectiveness, provides for a long term prophylactic protection, and should be a component of every school, university, professional team and fitness center. Internationally, Goldshield is used as an agent effective against MRSA, VRE and Candida albicans among other organisms, which Goldshield has been proven effective against in independent studies. In the US, it can be used also as biostatic agent against fungi, mold and other bacterium
As an overall strategy, the following should be followed:
• Hand washing, we recommend Goldshield 24, with a more durable long lasting protection than alcohol base hand rinses
• Personal showers and baths
• Cleaning of all clothes, including gloves, hats, wrist bands,
• Do not share towels
• Do not share soap
• Do not share razors
• Be diligent and courtesy to wipe down equipment and seats after using.