Here Today... Gone To Hell!

Should I feel bad for laughing out loud when I saw this story?


http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps/wrestle/2007-01-30-minnesota-wrestling_x.htm


Herpes outbreak suspends high school wrestling in Minnesota

Updated 1/30/2007 4:12 PM ET    

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) ? High school wrestling was suspended Tuesday across Minnesota due to a widespread outbreak of a skin infection.

The Minnesota State High School League said 24 cases of herpes gladiatorum have been reported by 10 teams. The virus is spread by skin-to-skin contact. Symptoms have included lesions on the face, head and neck of wrestlers.

The league banned competitions and direct contact between wrestlers in practice until Feb. 6.

The suspension is meant to control the current outbreak, allow time to diagnose new cases and prevent disqualifications at the state tournament, scheduled for Feb. 28-March 3.

The Minnesota Department of Health has been tracking the virus, caused by herpes simplex type 1, the same strain that causes cold sores.

Officials first became aware of the outbreak at a tournament held in Rochester in late December.

Scot Davis, who coaches wrestling at Owatonna High School, has been involved in wrestling in Minnesota for more than 40 years and says he can't remember the league completely shutting down.

Davis' team, which gets doctor checkups several times a week, competed at the Rochester tournament where the outbreak was first detected, yet none of his wrestlers have been infected.

He applauds the suspension.

"I think it's a bold step," he said. "How else are you going to get this thing cleared up? How do I explain to a mom that her kid has herpes forever?"

Steve Larsen, wrestling coach at Century High School in Rochester, said his team will miss three competitions because of the eight-day suspension.

"It's going to make scheduling interesting," he said. "I hope some of it will get rescheduled."

The Century team has had no skin problems this year, Larsen said. But in the past, when a few of his wrestlers came down with ringworm, his team was suspended from practice and competition as a precaution.

Infected wrestlers have to sit out matches and get cleared by doctors before they can resume wrestling, he said.

Dr. B.J. Anderson, a former wrestler who acts as a health adviser to the high school league, blames the outbreak on doctors who have been misdiagnosing and inappropriately treating the viral infections as bacterial ones.

"(Doctors) are not doing the right tests," he said.

Anderson said the greatest concern is an infection of the eye, which can, in rare cases, lead to scarring or blindness. The virus can remain in a body indefinitely, he said.

A similar outbreak occurred in 1999, affecting 63 wrestlers and disqualifying several of them from the state tournament, Anderson said.

Dr. Henry Balfour, a national expert on herpes who works in the department of virology at the University of Minnesota, said wrestlers are at a higher risk for this sort of infection than other people because of the nature of the sport.

"Usually you have to have damage to the skin," he said. "If there is a break in the skin, ... then the virus could take and cause a skin infection."

Balfour said the virus is not fatal but is a detrimental nuisance that can recur.

Such outbreaks are common in the wrestling world, frequently occurring at summer camps, he said.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

wow  :hihi:

That fucking sucks for the other wrestlers who didn't know. I certainly wouldn't laugh... but I guess I can see the humor in it.

Just sounds fucking crappy to me. Imagine playing a sport you enjoy and getting some nasty disease like that without even being aware AND you have it for your whole life. Bummer.  :no:

 :rofl: yeah that is a little funny :yes:



:peace:

I laughed when I saw that today, as I live in MN. I hate the wrestlers at my school, they're so cocky n' full of their selves. I had to laugh 'cause the ones I see are fuckin' pricks.

all the wrestlers at my school are just gay, i say they like to do it 'cause they secretly want to touch other men  :hihi: :P

unless your like professional shit like ECW or WWE then your cool course i guess you gotta start some where.

yeah, i know a few pricks at my school, but they're not all wrestlers.

This story does kind of suck though. Pretty sad.

This year, one of 'em popped a boner in a match.

i gues you hate jocks in general?

why were you looking?  :P

I wrestled in middle school and never did it again.

My main complaint was finding my face in an armpit at times or getting accidentally groped.

This is one sport where a gay person ( or straight person pretending they are gay)  can have a big advantage if their opponent is homophobic.  :hihi:

Not all of 'em.


I wasn't. A kid on the team told me about it.

sounds like owned to me.

 :hihi: