m.l.s.

I found this on the Drudge Report! Nowhere does the story mention
Herpes gladiatorum or Herpes rugbiosum, the two names I would think
to apply to this West Coast outbreak.

Also, someone needs to talk to that coach (and probably the kids and
parents) about asymptomatic shedding!

Enjoy.

Mike

http://www.dailytidings.com/2005/0107/010705s2.shtml

January 7, 2005

Herpes spreads to mat

By Don Hunt
For the Tidings

A handful of wrestlers at Crater and Grants Pass high schools have
been diagnosed with herpes, athletic directors at both schools
confirmed Thursday.

The Crater wrestlers apparently contracted the viral infection while
competing at a tournament in Fresno, Calif., Dec. 11-12 and then
spread the disease to the Grants Pass team when they met for a dual
match on Dec. 16, Crater athletic director John Beck said.

A dual match between Grants Pass and South Medford scheduled for
Thursday was postponed until next week. The Crater wrestlers,
meanwhile, were cleared by a doctor and will compete Saturday at the
Oregon Classic in Redmond, Beck said.

Beck said the number of Crater wrestlers infected was "less than 10"
but couldn't give an exact figure. Grants Pass athletic director Tom
Blanchard said four of his school's grapplers were affected.

Coaches of both teams were unavailable for comment Thursday.

The wrestlers are thought to have contracted the infection caused by
Herpes Simplex Virus-1, commonly known as oral herpes. The virus
usually features lesions or "cold sores" on the lips, nose and
surrounding areas.

It has no cure, and as much as 80 percent of the American adult
population may have the virus, with more than a half-million new
cases being detected each year, according to the Herpes.com Web
site.

A more serious strain of the virus, caused by Herpes Simplex-2,
affects the genital region, although HSV-1 and HSV-2 can hit both
the upper and lower portions of a person's body.

"We think the kids picked it up at the Clovis tournament (in
Fresno)," Beck said. "But they didn't have any symptoms. Then they
went to Reno (the following weekend, two days after wrestling Grants
Pass) and that's when we knew we might have some problems.

"The (affected) kids have all been medicated and treated," Beck
added.

Symptoms of herpes usually develop within two to five days after
contact with the virus, but can take longer.

The Grants Pass team hasn't been in its practice room for several
days but wrestlers have continued to run and lift weights.

"We're basically taking 10 days off as far as rolling around on the
mat is concerned," Blanchard said. "We haven't had any new
outbreaks, but we want to be prudent about this."

Blanchard held a meeting with the Grants Pass wrestling parents
Thursday night.

"We want to get all the information we have out there," he said.
"We're trying to be as open as we can and not have this thing
sensationalized."

Medford dermatologist David Igelman said that parents shouldn't be
overly worried about their sons wrestling an infected opponent as
long as

the opponent doesn't have lesions or other open sores or wounds.

"If you see something on someone's skin then they're probably
contagious, and if you don't see anything then they're probably
not," he said.

Asked about a report on an Internet site that referred to a
phenomenon known as asymptomatic viral shedding, in which people
with the virus reportedly have been detected spreading it without
overt symptoms, albeit for only one or two weeks of a year, Igelman
said: "I don't know that I'd be concerned about that, although in
medicine, nothing is 100 percent."

Diseases such as bacteria-based impetigo and fungus-based tinea, or
"ringworm," are not uncommon on wrestling teams, where the
participants are in constant close proximity with one another and
work out in warm, humid areas. The combination can create an almost
ideal breeding ground.

Herpes hasn't been much of a culprit until recently, where it has
gained a foothold on wrestling teams back East and in the Southwest.

"If you have an active cold sore and you're grinding it into the arm
pit of another wrestler, then there's a pretty good chance you're
going to spread it," Medford dermatologist Doug Naversen said. "The
important thing is to get treated if you think you have symptoms so
you don't infect someone else."

Naversen said there are several viral capsules on the market that
will kill the virus at the affected area within a day or two.

However, the body isn't able to eliminate the virus completely as it
continues to "hide out" in nerve cells.

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