Link: delawareonline
Some Delaware high school wrestlers have been diagnosed with a staph infection resistant to most antibiotics, the Delaware Division of Public Health announced Wednesday.
Paula Eggers, the acting state epidemiologist, would not say which schools have students with Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus [MRSA], a bacterium that causes infections in different parts of the body.
"The reports we have are anecdotal information," she said. "We just started receiving more and more reports from the schools that their athletes, wrestlers in particular, were acquiring the [infection]."
Staphylococcus aureus — or staph — can live in humans without infecting them, but it becomes a serious concern when it enters the body through an open cut or wound.
MRSA is more difficult to treat than most strains of staph, because it’s immune to some commonly used antibiotics.
These skin infections are often identified among people who experience a lot of skin-to-skin contact. Wrestlers are often susceptible to MRSA because of the heavy amount of contact in their sport, Eggers said.
