College wrestler contracts herpes during match, MA doctors say. He’s not the first
The 20-year-old athlete noticed painful and itchy bumps on his arms, doctors said. A 20-year-old Massachusetts college student contracted herpes gladiatorum during a match, according to a case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine. The student, who was a student athlete on his school's wrestling team, was given an antibiotic to treat bacterial infections and an ointment to put on the rash but the rash continued to spread throughout his body. He was also referred to a dermatologist due to the discomfort of his skin. The patient was sexually active with women and underwent several tests, including a human immunodeficiency virus test, and other general health tests. Herpes gl Gladiatorum, also known as "mat herpes," is a skin infection caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1. It is most commonly seen in athletes playing contact sports, particularly wrestling.
نشرت : منذ 4 أسابيع بواسطة Irene Wright في Health
When a Massachusetts college student took a shower in his dormitory bathroom, he noticed red bumps starting to poke out from the skin of his left arm.
As he put his forearm under the water, the bumps stung.
The 20-year-old was a student athlete on his school’s wrestling team, so he approached his athletic trainer to take a look at the mysterious rash.
The trainer told the student to go to the university health clinic, according to a May 29 case report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, and by the next day the rash had spread to his right arm too.
The student was given an antibiotic to treat bacterial infections and an ointment to put on the rash, according to the case report, but the stinging persisted until the bumps also started to itch.
When the athlete woke up the next day, the rash had spread to his chest, face and ears, doctors said, and an appointment with his primary care physician led to a referral to a dermatologist.
Before he could schedule an appointment, the itching became too much and he walked into the emergency room of Massachusetts General Hospital.
The student grew up in a coastal town in Massachusetts before leaving for college and joining the wrestling team, according to the case report.
He sometimes vaped but didn’t drink alcohol or use other drugs, and he didn’t have any known allergies that could have sparked a skin reaction, doctors said.
The 20-year-old was vaccinated against COVID-19 but not mpox, which has symptoms that are similar to smallpox, because he didn’t have any of the known risk factors.
The student was sexually active with women, so a human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) test was performed, as well as other general health tests.
Everything was normal. Then, his test came back positive for herpes gladiatorum.
“When I learned that this patient was a college wrestler with vesicular lesions, my first thought was that he had herpes gladiatorum,” one doctor wrote in the case report. “... I spoke with the patient’s coach, who informed me that several teammates had recently had rashes that had been treated by the team doctor with (antibiotics) and that the rashes had resolved. I also learned that the evening that the patient presented was the opening weekend of wrestling season, and his team was in another state for a match. Until that point, he had been practicing with only his sparring partner.”
Herpes gladiatorum, also known as “mat herpes,” is a skin infection caused by the herpes simplex virus type 1, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
The infection earned its name because it is most commonly seen in athletes playing contact sports, particularly wrestling, the health department said.
Herpes gladiatorum spreads from direct skin-to-skin contact or by the “secretions,” like sweat and spit, that get left behind on the mat after a wrestling match, according to the case report.
“An early description of an HSV outbreak among wrestlers was reported in 1964, and the term herpes gladiatorum was coined,” another doctor wrote. “Since then, such infections have been well described among wrestlers, as well as among participants in other sports such as rugby (herpes rugbiorum). A notable outbreak occurred in a high school wrestling camp in Minnesota in 1989 in which 60 campers were affected.”
There have also been more recent examples.
In 2016, a 17-year-old high school wrestler in California organized a “sit-out” of the state’s championship tournament after he contracted “mat herpes” during a previous tournament, CBS News reported.
“The kids were walking in there with their wrestling shoes, then straight out of the bathroom and onto the mats. Kids’ faces were shoved into the mats where those feet were,” the high schooler told the Los Angeles Daily News in 2016. “It’s disgusting. Kids were joking that if you walk in there, you’re probably going to get pink eye.”
Eight years earlier, in 2008, three wrestling teammates from York College in Pennsylvania filed a civil case against their college after one of them said he were infected with herpes gladiatorum from a wrestling mat when one of their teammates taped over their lesions and continued to use the equipment, ABC News reported.
“I was really devastated because I know that this was permanent, I knew there was a stigma with the virus,” one of the wrestlers told the news outlet.
Once you have become infected with herpes gladiatorum, the virus lives in your body for the rest of your life, according to the Wisconsin Department of Health Services.
“A person can have ‘flare-ups’ of symptoms, which can be triggered by stress or illness,” the health department said, and while antivirals can be given to decrease the number of times a person has episodes, there is no cure.
The 20-year-old wrestler in Massachusetts was treated for his immediate symptoms and the rash did go away, according to the case report, but he will be at risk of rash breakouts for the rest of his life.
To prevent the spread of herpes gladiatorum, health officials recommend:
• Keeping soap, towels, uniforms, gear and razors to yourself.
• Cleaning your headgear with soap and water.
• Wiping the soles of your shoes before stepping on a mat.
• Washing your hands regularly during practice and tournaments.
• Immediately reporting any blisters or sores on the skin to a coach or parent.
المواضيع: Academia