Potential danger lies in wait for fitness buff

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Potential danger lies in wait for fitness buff

Sporting equipment bags can harbour an ecosystem of germs and moulds

Hugh Adami, CanWest News Service

Published: Sunday, January 13, 2008

OTTAWA -- Felix Skora unfolded the sheet of paper and slid it across

the desk for his guest to see. The information on it was numbing.

" This is very bad, " Skora said quietly.

Germ warfare. That's what Skora's Gatineau laboratory, Micro B, found

in Randy Boswell's hockey bag after we took it there to see if the

CanWest News reporter's soppy, rank equipment posed a hazard to his

health and to those around him when he's on the ice trying.

A quartet of professional hockey players -- Langenbrunner,

Gionta, Cam Janssens and Rasmussen of the New Jersey Devils --

pack up their hockey bags before departing for the summer. Experts

fear a lot of unpleasant microbes could be living on such well-used

equipment.View Larger Image View Larger Image

A quartet of professional hockey players -- Langenbrunner,

Gionta, Cam Janssens and Rasmussen of the New Jersey Devils --

pack up their hockey bags before departing for the summer. Experts

fear a lot of unpleasant microbes could be living on such well-used

equipment.

Skora suggested some fast action be taken in the laundry room.

" There is a need to disinfect this equipment, " Skora said. " Possibly

with chlorine, alcohol and perhaps washed at a high temperature. Then,

you should be able to eliminate the bacteria, the yeast, the mould. "

What Micro B found lurking about Boswell's equipment was a cesspool of

bacterial growth. " Very high concentrations, " Skora explained.

Dr. Barry Dworkin, who writes a health column for the Ottawa Citizen,

said the bacteria could include numerous types of pathogenic germs,

viruses and fungal substances which can lead to a variety of illnesses

and skin infections, some of which he's treated.

While the lab didn't test for moulds and yeast, Skora said the high

bacterial concentrations would virtually guarantee their presence. In

fact, said Dr. Dworkin, heat and humidity stimulate growth of fungal

matter.

Dworkin also said that in extreme cases, dirty hockey equipment can be

a habitat for the hepatitis B virus, which causes very high fever,

weakness and jaundice. The virus is found in infected blood and other

bodily fluids, like sweat and saliva.

" It's disgusting, " Dworkin said of what can lurk in a stinky hockey bag.

Having dirty sports equipment, he said, " is no different than not

following routine hygiene like changing your socks and underwear. "

Bacteria- and viral-contaminated equipment is a very easy means of

transmitting infection.

People who play sports are particularly susceptible to infections for

various reasons: Germs grow when athletic equipment gets warm and

moist; sweating softens the skin's main barrier, the stratum corneum,

to the body; and germs enter the body from scrapes, cuts and bruises.

Professional hockey players -- who are covered from head to toe in

protective padding, and sweat profusely during play -- can be very

susceptible to infection because many, for superstitious reasons,

refuse to update their equipment. But at least professionals, and

players through the junior and university ranks, have training staffs

responsible for the maintenance of equipment. It's those who play at

the minor levels, children and beer-leaguers, who may have most to

worry about if they just leave their wet equipment in their hockey

bags until it's time to play again.

Not hanging up wet, smelly equipment to dry is a major reason for

severe bacterial contamination. While some may wash their jerseys,

hockey socks and undergarments before the next game, leaving the rest

of the stuff in the bag, like Boswell does, is not uncommon. There

doesn't seem to be a reasonable explanation from those who let their

equipment rot, other than offering the frequent refrain " it's kind of

a guy thing. "

Allowing equipment to dry kills a lot of bacteria, although Dworkin

suggested that cleaning equipment with disinfectants should also be

part of the process, to make sure you're getting more bacteria and any

spores left by dead germs.

It is highly recommended that players do not share any piece of equipment.

Health issues are not the only problem with dirty equipment.

" What (damages) equipment is bacteria and mould buildup, " said Darren

McCready, co-owner of Hockey Wash, an Ottawa company that specializes

in cleaning sports gear in a huge washing and drying machine that uses

special detergents and sanitizers.

" (Dirty equipment) eventually rots and falls apart. Equipment is

expensive. By keeping it clean, you're protecting your investment. "

While your skin is already a host to some of the bacteria found in the

contents of a hockey bag, and some of that bacteria on your skin is

considered " good " because it kills harmful germs, Dworkin said the

" bacterial load on dirty hockey equipment is greater than what your

body is used to. "

Thus, bacteria and viruses that get into your system, or that of the

player you just made contact with, can make either one of you as sick

as a dog or cause some excruciating pain.

Dworkin explained there are numerous ways for players to suffer or

pass ailments caused by the bacteria and viruses.

Most of it, he said, is through hand-to-hand contact.

Dworkin said various micro-organisms can cause problems once they get

through the skin because they multiply rapidly in warm and wet cells.

Nasty illnesses that bacteria and viruses found in hockey equipment

can cause include:

n Gastroenteritis (commonly know as stomach flu, which results in

diarrhea and nausea);

n Other viral illnesses such as influenza, colds, pneumonia and

chicken pox;

n Various skin infections including impetigo, caused by either the

streptococcus (strep) or staphylococcus (staph) germs.

n Diarrhea, bleeding and cramping, caused by a strain of E. coli,

found in fecal matter and often ending up in the athletic support.

The streptococcus and staphylococcus families of bacteria can be

extremely dangerous and are spread through broken skin. Staphylococcus

aureas, or MRSA, is one that is particularly feared because it is

resistant to certain antibiotics, can poison blood and even kill you.

Sometimes, though, it causes no more than a mildly painful blister.

Recent cases of MRSA, considered a " superbug, " have involved U.S.

high-school and university football players who developed infections

through razor nicks from cosmetic body shaving. The infections spread

through body contact.

Last year, several members of the NFL's Houston Texans developed MRSA

infections and needed intravenous antibiotics.

Former Toronto Maple Leafs forward Mikael Renberg had a run-in with

group-A strep and nearly lost a hand as a result. While tying his

skates for a practice in late December 2002, a lace opened a blister

on his left hand. The hand became so infected the next day that he

developed a 104-degree fever and ended up in a Vancouver hospital,

where doctors considered amputation over fears that the infection

could spread and kill him.

Boston Bruins star Joe Thornton was put on intravenous antibiotics in

January 2003, after he fell and bruised his left elbow during practice

and developed an infection a few days later. It was believed that the

infection came from bacteria in his elbow pad or from bacteria in his

hand, which he transmitted by rubbing the bruise.

Some other National Hockey League players who suffered bad infections

in recent years include Detroit Red Wings forward Darren McCarty

(elbow), Leafs goalie Eddie Belfour (hand) and former San Sharks

defenceman Suter (shoulder). Suter's infection ate a large part

of one of the triceps muscle in his upper arm.

In September 2003, Tampa Bay Lightning star Lecavalier was

prescribed antibiotics after his right ankle became infected through

scar tissue as he was breaking in a pair of skates.

Boswell? He claims he is as " healthy as a horse " and doubts he has

ever suffered an illness related to his equipment.

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