MRSA in West Palm

[debajo agua]

Has anybody heard of a MRSA outbreak in the waters of South Florida?

 

[DennisS]

26 cases of Vibrio vulnificus reported across state | wtsp.com There is some nasty stuff out there, not MRSA but deadly in some cases

 

[TSandM]

I'm not aware of MRSA being transmitted through salt water. However, I can easily imagine MRSA being carried in rental wetsuits, or perhaps in rinse tanks.

 

[Wookie]

MRSA is epidemic on shrimp boats and almost impossible to get rid of, since it can incubate almost anywhere. The Key West hospital is rumored to be full of it in the ER and ICU, and the temps are kept meat locker cold in those places because of it. The shrimpers get it when they stick themselves with shrimp horns, they always have open wounds. I've heard a story from a guy who claimed he got it on a certain liveaboard, but I haven't heard of anyone else getting it there. It's just another thing we liveaboard owners worry about in the night, like cockroaches and bedbugs.

 

[TSandM]

Yes, it can be carried in anything that you handle or that comes in contact with your skin. I just haven't ever heard of anybody getting it from swimming in the ocean (or for that matter, in a swimming pool).

 

[Doubler]

So Lynne what can a diver do to help minimize contracting MRSA while on vacation when renting gear. Bring your own mouthpiece? Soak rental wetsuit in a 10% bleach solution? What about the rinse tank on a liveaboard anything there that might help?

 

[TSandM]

Well, there are three parts to contracting the bug. It has to be present in the environment, get transferred to something with which you will come in contact, AND establish on your skin. The last step is the easiest one for you to control -- showering with Hibiclens disinfectant has been shown in studies to decrease the incidence of symptomatic MRSA infection in contacts of people who carry the bug.

Washing neoprene in chlorine solutions will age it quickly, as all of us who teach in swimming pools have painfully observed. If you are renting wetsuits, the dive op might object to soaking them in bleach.

As far as the boat goes, changing the water in rinse tanks and laundering towels and other linens regularly will go a long way to reducing transmission of skin pathogens.

 

[Chugwhump]

That's IT!
Shore dives only from now on.
Sorry Wookie.

Chug
Works across the the street from a county jail at the moment.

 

[tracydr]

So Lynne what can a diver do to help minimize contracting MRSA while on vacation when renting gear. Bring your own mouthpiece? Soak rental wetsuit in a 10% bleach solution? What about the rinse tank on a liveaboard anything there that might help?

For $65.00, you can buy a 1.5 mm tropical full wetsuit. Why rent at all? I just bought a new one from Amazon for this price to swim in as the city pool was getting too cold. Leisure Pro also has a couple for the same price or you can get a shorty if you prefer, although that doesn't give your skin the protection that I prefer to have to prevent cuts, scrapes and marine stings.
Own your own mouthpiece and you can even have a nice, custom mouthpiece if you prefer.
I've found Neem soap and shampoo is quite helpful in my own skin rashes and issues with eczema,including a secondary infection that I was dealing with and a soap/shampoo allergy that I developed.