About the so-called flesh-eating bacteria - only in horror flicks, right? Well, not quite.

As the collegiate athletic season kicks in, public health officials and clinicians at college campuses are on alert for a bacteria that can cause serious staph infections among competitive sports participants and other students. It's called MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) and is resistant to commonly used antibiotics.

Several clusters of MRSA outbreaks of skin and soft tissue infections have been reported across the country among participants in competitive college and high school sports.

For example, in 2002, Pennsylvania Department of Health and federal public health officials investigated an outbreak of soft tissue and skin infections caused by MRSA.

Among 10 members of a Pennsylvania college football team, seven (70 percent) were hospitalized.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assisted health departments in other states with investigations of outbreaks of MRSA-associated soft tissue and skin infections among sports participants.

Prompted by the CDC report, the National Federation of State High School Associations and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) issued alerts to their members in 2003 urging compliance with the public health recommendations for prevention of MRSA among student athletes.

According to Dr Nkuchia M'ikanatha, an epidemiologist with Pennsylvania Department of Health, special studies are needed "to understand the magnitude of MRSA problem, and to provide clinicians with information to guide treatment decisions."

What can MRSA do to you? Besides garden-variety skin infections, MRSA can cause serious blood, heart and bone diseases requiring hospitalization. The symptoms of possible MRSA infections can include skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage.

More serious infections may involve the bloodstream or surgical wounds or cause pneumonia. These infections may occur any place on the body where there is a cut or abrasion, and in the armpit and groin areas.

These infections sometimes heal on their own, however if left untreated, an infection may turn into an abscess and at that point, medical treatment is necessary. If you think you may have MRSA, please contact University Health Services for an appointment. Call 863-0774.

How do you get MRSA? It is almost always spread by direct physical contact. It can also be transmitted indirectly through contaminated personal items such towels, sheets, or clothes.

You can also get MRSA by coming in contact with sports equipment or surfaces contaminated by the infected skin of a person with MRSA.

Sometimes healthy people carry MRSA in the nose or skin or other parts of body without knowing they have it. They can unintentionally spread MRSA.

How can MRSA be prevented? The most important factor in preventing MRSA infections and transmission is good hygiene, whether among athletes in their training facilities or in the dorms and apartments on and around Penn State campuses.

Once you are diagnosed with MRSA or other staphylococcal infections, you need to follow several important steps in order to prevent the spread of the infection to others or your own re-infection.

Cover your wound. Keep wounds that are draining or have pus covered with clean, dry bandages. Follow your healthcare provider's instructions on proper care of the wound. The wound should be covered to prevent the spread of the pus, which may contain the bacteria, to other people.

Clean your hands. You, your family, and others in close contact should wash their hands frequently with soap and warm water or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, especially after changing the bandage or touching the infected wound.

Do not share personal items. Avoid sharing personal items such as towels, washcloths, razors, clothing, or uniforms. Also, be sure to wash your clothes, sheets and towels with laundry detergent. Heat drying also may help kill the bacteria.

Talk to your doctor. Tell any healthcare providers including nurses and athletic trainers that you have or had a staph or MRSA skin infection.

How might this impact you and other Penn State students? Although it is tempting for healthy college students to ignore skin infections, it is much better to seek early treatment to protect yourself from serious illness and ugly wounds and to avoid the spread of MRSA to other students. According to Dr. Margaret Spear, Director of University Health Services, the student health center on University Park campus, "We have seen an increasing number of MRSA skin infections in the general student population at University Park. Students should follow the basic guidelines on hygiene and use common sense.

If a student has any sort of skin infection that is not responding to self care strategies or is rapidly spreading, they should not delay in seeking medical evaluation and treatment.

Please call UHS at 863-0774 if you suspect you have MRSA."