MRSA Infections Threaten Youth Athletes on their own Turf

Sports Safety IQ tip of the day to parents and coaches: If your kids are playing on synthetic turf, you need to be extra vigilant about monitoring, cleaning and covering abrasions, turf-burns and other cuts they may get from being raked across the surface while playing. There is an ongoing debate about whether MRSA bacteria can survive on synthetic turf and be passed from player to player through open wounds common to athletes.

A new article "Texas Football Succumbs to Virulent Staph Infection from Turf" on Bloomberg.com makes a strong case for the link between MRSA found in football players in Texas and the synthetic turf fields on which they play. According to studies done with the help of the University of Texas, football players are more likely to be infected with MRSA than players in any other sport. This study makes a correlation between the high percentage of turf fields in Texas and the high rate of MRSA among its football players -- more than 16 times greater than the national average.