A virus has kept District 9 wrestlers off the mats and postponed
several matches over the last two weeks.
An outbreak of herpes gladiatorum – commonly known as mat herpes
– has resulted from exposure at the Coudersport Duals on Jan. 5. It
was believed to originate with Philispburg-Osceola, one of several
teams taking part in the competition.
“The day after the Coudy tourney (Jan. 6), the wrestling coach
from Philipsburg-Osceola High School notified the Coudersport coach
and tournament director that a member of his team had just broken
out with the herpes virus,” Cameron County coach Scott Baker
said.
“We had one wrestler who had direct contact with that
individual. That’s when we put our first quarantine into
effect.”
Herpes gladiatorum is a skin infection caused by the herpes
simplex virus. It occurs often in wrestlers, causing a rash that
commonly appears on the face, neck, shoulders and arms.
The herpes simplex rash is usually a cluster of blisters that
may or may not be painful. An infected wrestler can pass the
infection to an uninfected wrestler by skin contact.
An eight-to-10 day incubation period is normally observed to
determine whether a wrestler has contracted the virus.
The outbreak resulted in the postponement of the
Bradford-Smethport wrestling match Jan. 17, as well as some matches
for Cameron County, Coudersport, Johnsonburg and Oswayo Valley.
Bradford and Cameron County, both schools where no wrestlers
showed signs of contracting the virus, imposed voluntary
quarantines for their programs.
Johnsonburg had an outbreak following a quarantine and a match
with Cameron County, causing a second quarantine for the Red
Raiders, this one lasting 10 days.
Bradford has since returned to action, defeating Sheffield on
Tuesday.
“We were just taking precautions,” said Rob Cosper, Bradford
coach. “As a school district, we wanted to make sure we were not
exposing any more kids. No one here has contracted it, but we
wanted to go through an incubation period to see if we were still
clear. We wanted to make sure there was no danger of spreading new
cases.”
Oswayo Valley had one known case and implemented a 12-day
quarantine with no practice and no workouts. According to Brad
Buchholz, OV athletic director, several precautionary measures will
be implemented when the wrestlers do return to the mat, including
mandatory showers, making anti-bacterial soap available and placing
practice clothes and towels in plastic bags.
While Baker said District 9 and the PIAA are “in the process” of
addressing the problem, he wonders why no protocol has been
established.
“They give you guidelines on how to clean the mats and personal
hygiene,” he noted, “but nothing on how to deal with outbreaks. I
think this could have been resolved very early if there was
something in place for coaches and trainers and schools to
follow.”
Meantime, District 9 wrestling chairman Randy Cathcart said, “I
think the PIAA will certainly have to re-evaluate its policy on
infectious diseases.
“As a sport, we have legitimate concerns. There’s others like
MRSA and ringworm.”
Cathcart said having a trainer or nurse at weigh-ins, who could
catch infected wrestlers before they go on the mat, would help. He
also emphasized there are body foams on the market wrestlers can
use to help protect them.
“We need to make this sport as safe as we can, and right now
this is definitely a concern,” Cathcart concluded. “It’s
threatening to shut down the season.”
