By Jonathan Hiser
Howard Hall was temporarily closed on Saturday around 2:30 p.m. by Public Safety after a student who worked at the facility was diagnosed with methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The exercise facility reopened the following day at 1:30 p.m. after an intensive cleaning of the entire building, according to Director of Recreational Services Brian Dezzani.
MRSA is a variation of staph bacteria that's resistant to certain antibiotics and is transmitted either by skin-to-skin contact or from handling contaminated items and surfaces.
The student, who declined to be identified, said he was diagnosed with MRSA on that day and is continuing with his medication and is heading toward recovery. Despite working in Howard Hall, the student said he did not interact in the exercise areas either on the job or during his free time.
Dezzani confirmed this report and said the closing and disinfecting of Howard Hall was a safety precaution and does not mean that the student either contaminated or was infected by any of the equipment.
"We don't know where the infection came from, but we wanted to remove Howard as a possible risk," Dezzani said.
On Monday, Director of Residence Life Mike Walsh e-mailed student residents informing them of MRSA and ways to protect against infection. Dezzani said staff clean the machines at Howard Hall throughout the day and remind students that there are cleaning solvents available to disinfect equipment before and after use.
The recent incident is not the first time UP has dealt with a staph infection. Last November, a student who exercised at Howard was diagnosed with MRSA. Dezzani said Howard was thoroughly cleaned following that incident as well. The minutes from an Academic Senate meeting state that "there was an infection in Howard Hall," but Dezzani protests this statement.
"The student who got infected lived off campus with housemates who also got MRSA," Dezzani said. "So to say that there was an infection in Howard implies that it came from here, when it could have come from one of the housemates."
Dezzani said the two cases of MRSA are the only ones he has heard of in his years at UP.
During the 2007-08 school year, a student who worked out in the Chiles Athletics Center was diagnosed with a common staph infection. Athletics Director Larry Williams said the conclusion reached at the time was that the infection originated from the yoga mat the student shared, although no tests were done to confirm this. The incident led to the decision to require all students to buy their own yoga mats. Williams said this is the only staph infection he can recall in his six years at UP.
Dezzani said the health and welfare of the students is a main priority at Howard Hall, but adds that students still have to practice personal hygiene and common sense to be safe.
"If you're going to lie down on a yoga mat that 50 other people have already used, you might want to rethink that," Dezzani said.
