[sumo] oshi-dashi'd message

["Christopher J. Basten" <cbasten@statgen.ncsu.edu>]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Fri, 17 Oct 2003 09:09:08 -0700
Subject: Re: [sumo] Are rikishi plagued by MRSA?
Cc: Earle Jones <earle.jones@comcast.net>, <sumo@statgen.ncsu.edu>
To: "Stewart Nelson" <sn@scgroup.com>
From: Earle Jones <earle.jones@comcast.net>

*
Herpes simplex is a viral problem that has been known to infect
wrestlers.

Google on "wrestling herpes" (no quotes) and you will see many
references, for example, this one:

http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001552.htm

Epidemiologic Notes and Reports Herpes Gladiatorum at a High School
Wrestling Camp -- Minnesota

"In July 1989, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) investigated an
outbreak of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) dermatitis (herpes
gladiatorum) in participants at a Minnesota wrestling camp. The camp
was held July 2 through July 28 and attended by 175 male high school
wrestlers from throughout the United States. The participants were
divided into three wrestling groups according to weight (group 1,
lightest; group 3, heaviest). During most practice sessions, wrestlers
had contact only with others in the same group. The outbreak was
detected during the final week of camp, and wrestling contact was
subsequently discontinued for the final 2 days."

This reference is more general (from the International Sports Medicine
Institute):

http://216.239.39.104/search?q=cache:a_n9xJj2WMkJ:www.idsportsmed.com/
articles/031203_wrestling.pdf+wrestling+herpes&hl=en&ie=UTF-8

SKIN DISEASES IN WRESTLING

"During a single wrestling season, we will see hundreds of acute
wrestling injuries at ISMI. By the nature of this sport (a collision
sport with little or no protective equipment), most of these injuries
are orthopedic – injuries to the shoulder, elbow, wrist, knee, neck,
etc. Some of these injuries are season-ending while most others will
improve with rehab or a short duration of protection allowing for an
early return to competition.
Compared to other popular sports, wrestling is somewhat unique due to
its lack of protective equipment and the extensive skin-to-skin contact
involved in practice and meets or tournaments. This results in several
conditions almost unique to this sport: Head lacerations, ear hematomas
(which untreated lead to “cauliflower ear”), and a variety of
contagious skin diseases. Orthopedic injuries, both acute and chronic,
should always be evaluated early in an attempt to ensure the most rapid
recovery possible. The same applies to head lacerations (clearly) and
ear hematomas. By the same measure, contagious skin diseases (described
below) result in a large percentage of wrestling “injuries” seen in our
clinic and demand
immediate treatment to prevent possible serious complications and
further spread to teammates and competitors. The purpose of this
article is twofold: To provide education to wrestlers and families
about several of these conditions and to provide a source of immediate
contact regarding treatment or the arrangement of such treatment.

CONTAGIOUS SKIN DISEASES

HERPES SIMPLEX (a.k.a. “herpes gladiatorum”, “scrumpox”, etc.)
“Gladiatorum” is from the
gladiator era while the name “scrumpox” is derived from the sport of
rugby – yet another skin contact sport – in which persons in the
“scrum” huddle would pass along this “pox” virus (the herpes virus much
like its relatives which cause “chickenpox”, “shingles”, etc.) to other
players. The herpes virus causes a self-limited but highly contagious
outbreak usually lasting 1-2 weeks total. A first-time outbreak can be
very severe, even deadly on rare occasion, while recurrences tend to be
less troublesome. Non-wrestlers often “ride out the storm” without
medication or try a variety of herbal remedies in attempt to shorten
the duration of the outbreak while wrestlers are required to be on
medication prior to return to practice or competition. Classically,
herpes is associated with a “prodrome” (tingling, pain, itching, etc.)
in the area
just prior to the appearance of groups of very tiny, painful blisters.
Sometimes the blisters are difficult to identify in wrestlers due to
“unroofing” from being rubbed off during contact. In this case, herpes
can appear almost identical to impetigo (see below) and thus, can be
extremely difficult to differentiate between the two. The rules for
return to competition for herpes are as follows: A player must 1) be
free of systemic symptoms, 2) have developed no new blisters for three
days, 3) have no moist lesions – all lesions must be dried and have a
firm, adherent crust, and 4) have been on the appropriate dosage of
oral antiviral medications for at least 3 days prior to return and have
written documentation of treatment dates in hand from a licensed
physician. These rules are followed strictly in the Treasure Valley
area due to recent tremendous outbreaks locally in the wrestling
community. It is important to note that this herpes virus is the very
same one that causes other cutaneous (skin) outbreaks such as “cold
sores”, “fever blisters”, etc. Hence, the presence of a simple “cold
sore” will result in disqualification from all participation during the
above time frames."

It is not surprising that sumo rikishi might suffer from the same
syndrome.

earle
*



On Friday, October 17, 2003, at 01:17  AM, Stewart Nelson wrote:

> Hi all,
>
> I was unaware of the disease until stumbling across this story:
>
> http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20031016/
> ap_on_sp_ot/infection_athletes_5
>
> Some quotes:
>
> ATLANTA - Health and sports officials are warning schools and sports
> teams about a hard-to-treat skin infection once common to hospitals
> and prisons that's now plaguing athletes on the playing field.
>
>
> Though usually mild, methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)
> can progress to a life-threatening blood or bone infection. Several
> athletes who got the infection have been hospitalized.
>
>
> "It's not uncommon in contact sports such as football and wrestling
> where we have contagious skin conditions," said Jerry Diehl, assistant
> director for the high school federation. He said proper equipment
> cleaning is needed to prevent the infections.
>
> --Stewart
>
> [EndPost by "Stewart Nelson" <sn@scgroup.com>]
>



[EndPost by "Christopher J. Basten" <cbasten@statgen.ncsu.edu>]