Exercising caution on superbug

Link: Exercising caution on superbug on ChicagoSports.com.

"These infections have always been part of athletics," said Jeff Hageman, an epidemiologist with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. "Most of our reports still come from most of the high-contact sports, but they do occur across all sports." Greater frequency of body-to-body contact is thought to put an athlete at higher risk. Football's turf abrasions and wrestling's mat burns are inviting hosts, but they're hardly alone. In major team sports, the list of high-profile athletes affected by MRSA reads like a roll call of champions, all-stars and record-breakers. Former Cubs slugger Sammy Sosa battled injuries and declining production with the Baltimore Orioles in 2005, his first season after leaving Chicago. He endured two stints on the disabled list that year, the first of which sidelined him for 16 games in May with an abscess and staph infection in his left foot. That staph infection was reported as MRSA.