Wrestling squads hit by skin disease

by Jeff Fishbein and Dan Graybill, Lewistown Sentinel

Posted on December 8, 2007

LEWISTOWN — Wrestling teams from two local schools are suffering outbreaks of a bacterial skin disease, but the coach of one school says it is not the disease that recently shut down four southwestern Pennsylvania mat programs.

A source close to Lewistown's wrestling program told The Sentinel that both the Panthers and Mount Union's team had cases of "mat herpes," a form of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1.

Symptoms of that skin disease, Herpes Gladiatorum, include clusters of blisters or a rash, usually on the face, neck, shoulders and arms, according to Stacy Kriedeman, of the Pennsylvania Health Department. She said lesions may be accompanied by a fever and tingling of the skin.

But that's not the disease affecting local wrestlers, said Mount Union coach Corey Wertz. He said the Trojans were affected by impetigo, a bacterial skin infection that can be cause by either streptococcus or staphylococcus germs.

"We're relieved it's not the other thing," Wertz said.

Lewistown Athletic Director Rick Keefer confirmed Friday that the Mifflin County school had a skin disease outbreak. He said he believes the disease was transmitted to Panther grapplers by Mount Union.

Keefer did not specify which disease had been discovered in Lewistown.

Signs began to emerge at the beginning part of this week at Lewistown. All the persons affected with the skin disease are being treated.

"We think we are the end of the line," Keefer said. "It is not uncommon. We took care of what we needed to. We took it easy for awhile."

The team has been out of the mat room this week and has not had one-on-one contact.

Lewistown's match with Bald Eagle Area originally slated for today has been rescheduled to Jan. 22. All of the wrestlers are slated to return either today or Monday. The Panthers still plan to travel to the Beast of the East tournament in Delaware next weekend.

Mount Union also is expected to be in the clear by next week. Wertz said all but one individual is cleared up, and he should be back by the end of the weekend.

Mount Union had contact with Connellsville Area, one of four teams in the state that have consulted with the Pennsylvania Department of Health after an outbreak of "mat herpes."

Mount Union wrestled Connellsville Area on Nov. 17 during the preseason. Central Cambria and Claysburg-Kimmel also were at the scrimmage, held at Claysburg. A week later Lewistown and Mount Union had a scrimmage, which put those two teams in contact with each other.

The Trojans found out about the "mat herpes" that Connellsville reported before they were scheduled to wrestle Penns Valley Nov. 30. That match, along with two this week, were postponed.

"We didn't want to expose Penns Valley to that," Wertz said. "It is no big deal to reschedule and wrestle later in the season."

Mount Union will be back on the mats Tuesday at Claysburg-Kimmel.

In an article published by WebMD.com, Dr. Mark Cworkin of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said "Skin contact is the primary mode of HSV-1 transmission. In wrestling, the head and neck are major points of contact, and over 90 percent of the lesions we observed erupted in this area."

Impetigo is most commonly seen in children, according to WebMD, although it can occur wherever individuals come in contact and especially when they share items that touch the skin. It causes red sores that can break open, ooze fluid and develop a yellow-brown crust. These sores can occur anywhere on the body but most often appear around the mouth and nose.

Impetigo usually is treated with antibiotic ointment, but may also be treated with other antibiotic medications.

Sports medicine experts say wrestlers with active lesions should be temporarily excluded from participating in wrestling events, according to the article. The virus is not fatal, but it remains in a person's system after the lesions disappear.

Although it has similar properties, the disease should not be confused with MRSA, a staph infection that also has been reported in a number of schools.

The health department said it is working with four schools in the southwestern part of the state that have confirmed cases of "mat herpes," two of which have been identified: Connellsville and Penn Trafford. Both have temporarily suspended wrestling.

According to a story published Friday in the Altoona Mirror, eight Connellsville wrestlers have been diagnosed with the disease. One Claysburg-Kimmel wrestler also has impetigo.

Chestnut Ridge, which was at the same scrimmage as Lewistown and Mount Union, has postponed matched for precautionary reasons but doesn't have any skin diseases, according to the Mirror story.

Dr. Amesh Adalja, of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, told the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review the rash associated with "mat herpes" usually lasts about 7 to 10 days and can be treated with anti-viral medications such as Valtrex and Famvir.

The Associated Press contributed to this article.

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