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Preventing illness and disease transmission in a team sport
is paramount to maintaining team effectiveness and morale. Coaches, teachers,
administrators, Athletic Trainers, and physicians should take a proactive stance
in educating their athletes in prevention of communicable diseases.
Communicable diseases that affect athletes include, but are
not limited to: colds, influenza, herpes gladiatorum, staphylococcus (both
antibiotic resistant and resistant strains), and various other viral infections.
These diseases can transfer from one teammate to the next in record time.
Common Sense Prevention
No disease can be fully preventable, one must concentrate on
limiting the spread of illness once one of your athletes has become infected.
This is best accomplished by practicing basic hygiene.
Limiting exposure of ill athletes with their teammates
is very important.
Frequent hand washing is one of the best defenses in
limiting disease exposure. The simple act of shaking hands with an ill person
can transmit their illness to the healthy individual. Proper hand washing is
performed using soap, rubbing the hands together for a minimum of 30 seconds,
then rinsing completely. The friction created when the hands are rubbed
together effectively removes any contaminating agent. Anti-bacterial soaps
have NOT been shown to reduce the risk of disease transmission when compared
with the proper hand washing technique mentioned above.
Showering immediately: Showering after every practice
and competition is very important. A good quality soap should be supplied for
athletes showers. Athletes who participate in sports which have high degrees
of body-to-body contact should shower prior to practice and events as well.
Shower stalls should be frequently sanitized; a 10% bleach solution is an
extremely effective antimicrobial agent.
Protect The Skin. Our skin is the first line of defense
in protections from outside infections. Cuts, scrapes, and blisters allow an
avenue for bacterial and viral infections to enter the body. Feet should be
washed and dried thoroughly to prevent fungal infections. The groin area
should be dried thoroughly after showering to prevent bacterial and fungal
infections.
Protect Water Supplies: Water bottles, drinking
fountains, water hoses, ice chests, and the ice machine should be properly
cleaned. Individually labeled water bottles that are disinfected daily are the
most safe choice for a team sport. Single use paper cups are another wise
choice in preventing infection transmission. Soda cans or sport drink bottles
should not be shared by athletes. An infection can spread without direct lip
contact with the container. Drinking after another individual can result in
disease spread due to the “backwash” from the first drinker into the
bottle.
Wear Proper Clothing and Equipment: Ensure that you
athletes have clean clothing daily. The clothing should be appropriate for the
activity and climate. The clothing should also be in good repair. Sport
specific gear that directly touches the skin should also be sanitized daily.
Clean Practice Surfaces. Equipment such as tumbling
mats and treatment tables should be sanitized daily with a germicidal cleanser
or a 10:1 diluted water and bleach solution.
Protecting Immunity
Supporting the body’s immune system is an
important factor in limiting the spread of illness.
Fatigue & Overtraining.: Both of these factors have
been implicated in lowering the body’s immunity to disease. Proper sleep, 8
to 10 hours per night for an adolescent, should be stressed. Workouts should
be structured with appropriate recovery time between stations or drills.
Activities and drills should be varied from practice to practice to guard
against boredom.
Proper Nutrition: Athletes should give themselves the
best fuel possible to compete. This begins with choosing foods that will give
them a proper intake of vitamins and minerals. Proper dietary proportions
should be stressed: 60% of calories from carbohydrates, 20% from protein, and
20% from fat. One easy rule to communicate to your athletes is that their food
should contain bright colors. In a basic sense, the more brightly colored
their food choices, the better nutritional value it has. Blueberries, apples,
broccoli, string beans, etc are more nutritionally sound choices than the
brown colored french fries, or fast food hamburger.
Immunizations: Proper immunization of children will
prevent the spread of diseases such as the measles, tetanus, mumps, hepatitis
A, B, and C, and polio. All public schools require that their students show
proof of immunizations prior to admittance into school. Influenza vaccinations
should be considered for those athletes who participate during the flu season
(October through March).
Body Fluid and Skin
Universal precautions should be followed when dealing with
bodily fluid clean up or caring for skin lesions. This is the last major step in
preventing disease transmission.
Universal Precautions:
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Wash Hands before and after dealing with a bodily fluid
spill or wound care. (See previous description of proper hand washing
techniques.)
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Wear latex or vinyl gloves when coming in contact with
bodily fluids
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Wipe up spills with towels or cloths wet with a 10%
bleach solution or approved germicidal solution.
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Remove bleeding athletes from competition to care for
wound.
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Segregate contaminated laundry from noncontaminated
laundry. Wash with as hot a water as the fabric care label recommends with
a good quality soap and dry thoroughly.
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Deposit bloody dressings in a red biohazard bag for
proper disposal. Sharp items such as needles, should be disposed of in an
approved “sharps container.” Dispose of both items ONLY at appropriate
collection sites.
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Decontaminate any bodily fluid spill from permanent
structures and surfaces with a 10% bleach solution or approved germicidal
cleaning solution.
For more detailed information visit: www.cdc.gov.
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General Illness
