Preventing MRSA in Athletic Facilities: A Guide for Coaches and Athletic Directors

MRSA can spread quickly in athletic facilities, locker rooms, gyms and health clubs, causing skin infections and other infections. It spreads through skin-to-skin contact and by touching contaminated surfaces, and sports bring both: shared equipment and close physical contact. Athletic directors and coaches can prevent it with three things: personal hygiene, cleaning and disinfecting equipment and facilities, and following wound-care guidelines.

Cleaning

When

• Keep facilities and shared equipment clean at all times, whether or not anyone has had MRSA.
• Clean shared equipment after each use and let it dry before the next use.
• Repair or discard equipment and furniture with damaged surfaces that can't be properly cleaned.
• Follow manufacturers' instructions so the cleaner doesn't damage the item.

How

• Go over cleaning measures and schedules with the cleaning staff.
• Focus on surfaces that touch people's bare skin each day.
• Household bleach, detergent-based cleaners or EPA-registered detergents/disinfectants (List H) remove MRSA from surfaces; products that work against Staphylococcus aureus are enough to kill MRSA.

Safely

Cleaners and disinfectants can cause asthma and skin and eye irritation. Before using them:

• wear gloves and eye protection;
• follow the label, which tells you how to apply the product, whether to clean first, whether it's safe for the surface, how long to leave it on, and whether to rinse afterward;
• dilute bleach correctly: for 5.25–6.0% bleach, ¼ cup per gallon of water; for 8.25% bleach, 1 ounce per gallon, on pre-cleaned surfaces.

Spraying or fogging disinfectant widely has little evidence of working better than targeted cleaning. And never put cleaners or disinfectants on skin or wounds, or use them to treat infections.

If an athlete may have a skin infection

• Refer them to a health care provider; for athletes under 18, notify parents or guardians.
• Keep athletes with active infections or open wounds out of whirlpools, therapy pools and swimming pools that aren't cleaned between uses, until healed.
• Stock soap in showers and at sinks, bandages for wounds, and alcohol-based hand rub for when soap and water aren't available.
• Teach athletes how to avoid spreading infection.
• Use gloves when caring for broken skin or possible infections, and clean hands before and after; health care providers should use Standard Precautions.
• Cover infected wounds with bandages.

When to keep athletes out

• If a wound can't be properly covered — with a bandage or dressing that contains all drainage and stays in place through the activity.
• If a health care provider decides the activity risks the athlete's health, even with the infection covered.

Why it matters

Preventing MRSA protects athletes' health and safety and lowers the risk of outbreaks. Every athletic program should have a plan for regular cleaning and disinfection, education for staff and athletes on hygiene, and protocols for wounds and infections. If there's an infection, get medical advice — MRSA often needs specific antibiotics, and early treatment can prevent worse problems — and report it to a health care provider or parent or guardian.

Sources

Based on "Athletic Facilities: MRSA Prevention and Control," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; a work of the United States government in the public domain.