Fitness center

Question

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,
one of my patients (I am physiotherapist) has actually MRSA. Since then he does not come to my office anymore, but I visit him at home.
He has a contract in a fitness center, which he has been visited up to now 2 times a week - does he have to quit now?
Or are gloves during training sufficient in order not to spread the germ? Or can he (like until now) do his sport without any "caution measures"?
Further CF patients do not train in that fitness center (as far as known).
Many thanks for your advice.

Answer

Dear questioner,
you want to know if it would be problematic for your patient, in whom lately MRSA could be detected, to go on visiting the fitness center.
Your question can not be answered totally clearly.
It depends partly on the kind of MRSA that has your CF patient. MRSA stems can be subdivided according to their resistance and to the equipment with certain genes in such, which could mainly be found in the hospital (nosokomial) and such, that have been detected from time to time in the healthy population in the last years (community-acquired). Both groups of MRSA differ in their feature, to be able to cause infections. The community-acquired ones are more pathogen than the MRSA that can be acquired in the hospital generally. Therefore it would be important to have this information in order to estimate the risk.

In general, it can be said for the MRSA acquired in the hospital, that they do not represent a special risk for healthy people.

As far as no other CF patients or patients with chronic illnesses, that impair the immune system, train in the fitness center, the risk for others to get infected with the MRSA is relatively small. It is important that the CF-patient cleans the surfaces, that had been in closer and longer contact with the hands (grips of the equipment, free weights, etc.) with a disinfectant.
I hope to have helped you and your patient with this answer.
Many greetings,
Barbara Kahl

19.01.2010