Sports shops buy MRSA cleaning gear

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Mallards Source for Sports is the only holder, in the west Kootenay, thus far, of the Sani Sport, a revolutionary machine which sanitizes sports equipment. Dale Donaldson owner of Mallards said the machine can clean ski boots, shoes, fire fighter and RCMP gear or anything that comes into contact with bacteria. Donaldson bought the $15,000 machine because many of his customers had been asking about it. Smelly gear equals bacteria which could and has lead to infections such as methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). This infection, if not treated properly can lead to athletes acquiring serious life threatening illnesses. In 2003 a Pennsylvania football player died from MRSA. An article printed in 2004 in Men’s Health, stated that the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) placed the number of people hospitalized with MRSA annually at approximately 100,000.