Shower after swimming to avoid MRSA, scientist advise
Holidaymakers should shower after swimming in the sea to reduce their chances of picking up the superbug, MRSA, according to scientists.The warning follows one of the first major studies into dangerous microbes that bathers might encounter during a trip to the seaside. Researchers found that people who went swimming at a popular beach in Florida had more than a one-in-three chance of coming into contact with the Staphylococcus aureus microbe. A small proportion of these were the potentially life-threatening drug-resistant strain, MRSA.The bugs get into seawater when they are washed off the skin of people who may be unaware they are carrying the infection. "Staphylococcus are shed by individuals into the waters and if you do go into these waters you are likely to be exposed," said Lisa Plano who led the research at the University of Miami. In Britain, drug-resistant MRSA has largely been a problem confined to hospitals,...
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