Decolonization

When I first heard about decolonization, I thought it was a way of making MRSA/ORSA just go away. What I've since realized is that it's a process of keeping the colonization amount down. Like living in a small little village as opposed to a giant, sprawling metropolis. With this picture of decolonization in mind, anything from a daily shower to hand soap choice can be a decolonization technique. As I come acrossed any ideas, I will list them here.

A few things I insist on. We don't share towels, not even hand towels in the bathroom. We have papertowels at every sink. No matter how tired, my son gets a shower each night before going to bed. Another thing is weekly bedding change with the mattress and pillow being sprayed down with Lysol spray and aired. Lysol is great because you can spray it on just about everything and anything. Some things you might use it for are stuffed animals, school backpacks, towel racks in the bathrooms, door knobs, living room and dining room furniture, doorknobs, etc. Use your imagination. If I were a germ, where would I hide?

If a family member is diagnosed with MRSA/ORSA, it might be helpful to prevent its spread by treating all family members with Bactroban nasal ointment (to prevent colonization) and an antimicrobial wash, like Hibiclens. This 'decolonization' is controversial though and not all experts recommend it because of the concern that it might lead to even more resistance.

A note to our Athletic Directors - An Ounce of Prevention is Worth a Pound of Cure If one of your student-athletes were to get a staph infection and needed to be hospitalized for a week, the hospital bill would be $20,000.00 +. Your insurance company would have to pay most, if not this entire bill, but would in turn raise your premiums due to the claim. They would then raise your premiums even more due to the high risk of more infections within your athletic department. This hike in premiums would most likely be in the 200-300% range. Check your current premiums and do the math on that amount.  It is probably quite substantial. It would be a tragedy for any student-athlete to contract a staph infection, but what if it was a star that had a professional career ahead and this infection either eliminated the chance for this career or postponed it? A lawsuit that could result would be in the millions of dollars for loss of potential earnings. If you have given the student-athlete a scholarship and he can no longer play, or is out for a lengthy timeframe, then the infection has cost you the amount of the scholarship as well. This is a very serious situation, and with the amount of cases that have been reported in the last few months, there is a strong possibility that your athletic department will be struck with a tragedy of some scale if you do not take preventive measures. Click here to learn more about how to: Protect your students and coaches.  Protect your school.  Be Proactive. Nobody thinks it will happen to them till it does! Just ask the coaches, students and families of those who have suffered. This service does cost money, but it will also reduce your risk and exposure to the above situations and will therefore save you considerable dollars. In addition to the above, washing equipment the right way on a regular basis will keep the mold, bacteria and fungus from eating the padding, so it would also stand to reason that this service would also prolong the life of your equipment. The result of this will reduce the amount of money you will need to spend on replacing old worn out gear. The money saved will help offset the costs associated with our services. Healthy Athletes are Productive Athletes!