H1N1 Precautionary Measures

[littlevito]

I'm not sure about other peoples' thoughts are on the whole issue of the H1N1 virus that seems to be spreading at a faster rate, and with wrestling season just around the corner, it has me worried a little bit about not only my team but other teams as well.  Some people have the mindset that, "oh that won't happen to me" but I have a friend that has just recently been hit with it and they say it is absolutely horrible.

 

I believe it could be something that could really hurt a wrestling room.  It is hard enough in our sport already with all the skin to skin contact to battle skin diseases, common cold, and seasonal flu.

 

But I believe we can do our best to try and prevent this virus from entering a wrestling room.  I'm not sure if any other coaches have thought about this or not, but it has been on my mind the past week.  So I decided to try and take a few extra steps to be cautious and keep my wrestlers as healthy as I can for this upcoming season.  Besides for normal daily mat cleaning, this season I will be having all doorknobs/handles, pull-up bars, drinking fountains, and other daily used equipment wiped down with a disinfectant on a daily basis.  Also this past summer my school purchased an Air Purifier for the wrestling room to try and help with airborne bacterias, not sure how it will work or how effective it will be, but it was recommended as a way to fight the spread of MRSA.

 

I was wondering if any other coaches are thinking of taking any precautionary measures for this season, and if so, what are they?  It may seem I'm worrying too much over this issue, but I've seen a case of ringworm wipe out an entire team for a weekend tournament.  I'm pretty sure this H1N1 thing would be a little worse for a team to catch.

[AJ]

As someone who spent multiple days in the hospital by my 6 year old and 4 year old daughters side scared to death because there was really nothing the hospital could do for them because they had tested positive for H1N1, I would like to say that it is not something to take likely.

 

Constant washing of room and sanitizing of equipment that is used in the room and if a wrestler is sick, tell them to stay out of the room!!!!! 

[Derrick Thomas]

Coach, this is a very important topic for discussion and I'm glad you posted it.  I have also been worried about the damage of H1N1 can cause a team.  I feel that if a wrestler is sick they have to stay away.  If this starts in a room  it could end a season for a whole team.

I hope that all coaches will treat this the same even if the sickness involves one of their best wrestlers.

[Boot]

For those who haven't seen it, here is the CDC information:

 

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1flu/qa.htm#d

[matrat]

Great ideas posted in this topic.  Just curious how FAR teams will take precautions.  Do you think we will see handshaking between opponents continue?  This always seems to be a big debate even without H1N1 concerns.  Will we be doing temperature checks before stepping on the scales??

[Y2CJ41]

Good point about handshaking.  I didn't even think about that. 

[MattM]

Great ideas posted in this topic.  Just curious how FAR teams will take precautions.  Do you think we will see handshaking between opponents continue?  This always seems to be a big debate even without H1N1 concerns.   Will we be doing temperature checks before stepping on the scales??

 

After a long a sweaty match capped off by some coaches place a arm around the  wrestler to talk about things I don't see the hand shaking as being the major issue in spreading anything.  Sure for skin diseases we need to make sure everyone scrubs themselves and everything quickly and regularly.  For more airborn related issues it going to take a good general cleaning (as we mostly do), whiping down some of the items touched in the practice and locker room, and most importantly keeping the sick away from the practice areas so they don't get the virus all over the room.  I don't see handshakes as a big worried compared to these other issues.  But it may be good to have a nice bottle of hand sanitizer for after things are over just to be on the safe side.

[snoopy]

Does anybody know if mat cleaner can be put into an atomizer? This would  be for walls and just in the air.

[WesternCat]

We use mat cleaner in a small garden sprayer for the walls, could also use a bleach mixture in one for the locker room. We've got hand sanitizer in the weight room and locker room.

I've also heard that daily gargling with Listerine or warm salt water as well as warm salt water in the nose. (netipot) helps to prevent the mutation.

AJ I've got a great niece with H1N1, praying for a speedy recovery for your girls.

 

 

And we thought MRSA was a pain to try to keep out.

[Y2CJ41]

MRSA was a media darling.  The stuff is out there and kids are still getting it, but the media has moved on to other things.  MRSA was just over hyped by the media and nothing more. 

[Drooke]

This was posted on another board and I thought It was quite appropriate to post it here.

 

Dr. Vinay Goyal is an MBBS,DRM,DNB (Intensivist and Thyroid specialist), having clinical experience of over 20 years.

 

The following message given by him; I feel it makes a lot of sense and is important for all to know

 

The only portals of entry are the nostrils and mouth/throat. In a global epidemic of this nature, it's almost impossible not coming into contact with H1N1 in spite of all precautions. Contact with H1N1 is not so much of a problem as proliferation is.

 

While you are still healthy and not showing any symptoms of H1N1 infection, in order to prevent proliferation, aggravation of symptoms and development of secondary infections, some very simple steps, not fully highlighted in most official communications, can be practiced (instead of focusing on how to stock N95 or Tamiflu):

 

1. Frequent hand-washing (well highlighted in all official communications).

 

2. "Hands-off-the-face" approach. Resist all temptations to touch any part of face (unless you want to eat, bathe or slap).

 

3. *Gargle twice a day with warm salt water (use Listerine if you don't trust salt). *H1N1 takes 2-3 days after initial infection in the throat/nasal cavity to proliferate and show characteristic symptoms. Simple gargling prevents proliferation. In a way, gargling with salt water has the same effect on a healthy individual that Tamiflu has on an infected one. Don't under estimate this simple, inexpensive and powerful preventative method.

 

4. Similar to 3 above, *clean your nostrils at least once every day with warm salt water. *Not everybody may be good at using a Neti pot, but *blowing the nose hard once a day and swabbing both nostrils with cotton swabs dipped in warm salt water is very effective in bringing down viral population.*

 

5. *Boost your natural immunity with foods that are rich in Vitamin C. *If you have to supplement with Vitamin C tablets, make sure that it also has Zinc to boost absorption.

 

6. *Drink as much of warm liquids (tea, coffee, etc) as you can. *Drinking warm liquids has the same effect as gargling, but in the reverse direction. They wash off proliferating viruses from the throat into the stomach where they cannot survive, proliferate or do any harm.

[porkrinder]

At Busco, the school sent a letter home to parents informing them that if a kid is diagnosed with any type of flu, he/she must stay home for 7 days.  I know a lot of schools have similar policies.  We've had cases of the swine flue in the building, but fortunately it hasn't spread too much (knock on wood).  An RN told me to gargle hot salt water every night and clean my nostrils out with cotton swabs after running them under hot water.  I think having the locker rooms and wrestling rooms cleaned thouroughly on a daily basis will help too for obvious reasons.