The recent data is that not too long ago, MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), also known as MERSA, a staph infection, was confined to hospitals, hospices, poverty-stricken areas, and prisons. As concerning the today?s situation, this ’superbug’ that is able to resist most antibiotics and can be the reason of death within 72 hours in some cases, has been found in places such as health and fitness clubs, daycare centers, schools, and other public places and that is really a scary fact to realize. This strain is called CA-MRSA. If you go to a health club, you must be aware of your increased risk of getting MRSA infection and how to protect yourself before, during, and after working out.
How to prevent MRSA exposure?
Pay attention that you are still at risk in the case you don’t protect yourself in spite of that a lot of health clubs have increased their cleaning regimen to incorporate power washing locker rooms each day and hiring additional workers in order to control locker rooms during peak hours, that incorporate mornings, the lunch hour, and late afternoon.
So, in order to protect yourself it is necessary:
1. Wash hands thoroughly throughout the day.
2. Tend to any cuts, scrapes, and other wounds immediately with antiseptic and bandages to prevent infection.
3. Wipe down all gym equipment before you use.
4. Avoid sharing towels and other personal items.
5. Arranging of used towels properly.
6. While you are in the locker room you should wear rubber shower or patio shoes.
7. It is very important to ask the manager of the health club what precautions they have taken in order to increase MRSA prevention.
The truth is that practicing good personal hygiene and covering any exposed wounds decreases a lot the risk of infection spreading.
What are the signs of MRSA transmission?
According to the fact that MRSA is transferred most often through open wounds and small cuts, it’s crucial to keep these areas covered when using gym equipment and when using the locker room at health clubs. It should be also pointed out that once you’ve been exposed to MRSA, there may not be many warning signs. You see, the point is that in most cases people feel a rash or experience flu-like symptoms, while others do not have any noticeable warning signs. When discovered in its early stages, it can be treated but due to that the MRSA infection spreads very fast, for some people it’s too late by the time they go to see a doctor.
Unfortunately, MRSA symptoms are similar to the flu ones, which is common during colder months because more people tend to stay indoors and close to each other. So, you should visit your doctor in order to solve the problem as soon as possible in the case you have flu-like symptoms.
Impact of MRSA Infection in the health club industry
It is obvious in order to protect their patrons, health clubs have begun spending more in staff and gym equipment and locker room maintenance to keep MRSA from destroying their business. As a matter of fact there are a lot of health clubs have chosen hands-free equipment such as sensor monitored hand driers, sanitary wipes that have anti-bacterial properties, and remodeling locker rooms that incorporate surfaces that kill bacteria.
It should be also added that depending on the size of a health club and the level of cleaning necessary to protect patrons, certain of health clubs are spending between $1,000 and $1,500 a month. This includes making sure all equipment, locker rooms, towels, and other items in the clubs are safe to use. You might understand that these costs are much lower than what health clubs would pay if shut down for at least one day. In addition, losing patronsand hiring a professional HAZMAT crew are just some of the costs health clubs would be responsible for.
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