Athletics and Skin Diseases, Dangerous Mix

NORTHEAST GEORGIA - [watch] According to the the National Athletic Trainer's Association, at any given time one out of every three people in the U-S suffers from a skin disease. Athletes are particularly vulnerable to catching these skin problems, because they're in close quarters that promote skin-to-skin contact. Now new recommendations are being made, that could eliminate some of these illnesses from the locker room.

Kyle Frey wrestles for Drexel University in Philadelphia. Because of the nature of his sport, he experiences a lot of body to body contact. And that's a risk. Skin diseases are common in the athletic community. Yet, Kyle didn't think anything of it when he developed a bump of his arm. He casually scratched it and that was a mistake. "It started as a pimple on my left arm and I had noticed that on Saturday, then I noticed that by Monday it had grown to the size of my biceps."

Kyle had developed a serious case of MRSA, a staph infection that eats at your skin. He required hospitalization and antibiotics until it healed. According to a recent survey, 56 percent of infectious diseases in competitive sports, from high school to the pro level, are skin diseases. Some like MRSA can be very serious and very contagious.

That is why the National Athletic Trainer's Association recently released new guidelines that will hopefully cut down on the number of skin illnesses in the locker room.

Dr. Stephen Zinder with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill says, "The lessons that we learn today are the same lessons we learned in our sixth grade health classes."

The main guidelines include:

-Maintain clean equipment and locker rooms daily
-Wash after every practice or competition
-Educate your players
-Discourage athletes from sharing gear.

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Athletics and Skin Diseases, Dangerous Mix

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