Nov 1, 2006 12:00 PM

Super bugs: the hype, the truth and what you can do to keep your members healthy.

Mutant pathogens. Germs. Super bugs. Thriving bacteria. The list of names for the microorganisms that can be found anytime, anywhere — including your club — is anything but comforting. Recent media articles and news magazine programs have brought front-and-center attention to certain microbes, especially antibiotic-resistant ones and their presence in fitness facilities.

Because the common perception is that gyms are dirty, dank and dark, health clubs are a seemingly perfect place for microorganisms to thrive. With many people coming in and out, touching multiple surfaces and sweating in close proximity to one another, the club environment seems like it would be a bug's ideal breeding ground.

Many in the fitness industry remember an undercover investigation that aired on ABC News: Primetime in early 2005. After swabbing a number of items in a typical health club, testers found staphylococcus, streptoccus viridans, diptheroids, E.coli and candida, which causes yeast infections. A similar story was aired on the Today show, just a few weeks ago. Research from the University of Arizona found that some cold and flu viruses can survive on surfaces for up to 72 hours, whether it's in the home, club or office. Recently, the biggest super bug of all — methicillin-resistant Stephylococcus aureus (MRSA) — has started popping up outside of hospitals. MRSA cases have been reported in contact sports facilities, military establishments and prisons, leaving many to believe health clubs are next.

The story doesn't end there.

Believe it or not, nothing inherent in sweat breeds disease, colds or the flu. Sweat is often just the mechanism for bacteria to move from hand to dumbbell or other pieces of fitness equipment. However not a single outbreak of MRSA — which is a type of staph bacteria resistant to a certain type of antibiotics, including the commonly prescribed penicillin, oxacillin and amoxicillin — has been contracted from a health club setting to date, says Jennifer Morcone, spokesperson for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

“You could culture your computer or your desk and come up with a number of germs,” she says. “Bacteria and viruses live with us, and they're not always harmful and make us sick.”

Sure, colds go around, but good common sense can keep your members and staff protected, even from MRSA, which is generally contracted through skin-to-skin contact rather than contact with surfaces (for more information, see Q&A on p. 42).

“It's something the public should be aware of, and there are things that people can do to protect themselves — good hand hygiene, being mindful about not sharing equipment, etc.,” Morcone says. “If someone develops a rash or a boil and it's not resolving, they should ask their doctor to have it cultured and tested. It's treatable, but not with an antibiotic that a doctor would normally treat with.”

Clean Sweep

Besides keeping your members and staff healthy, a clean facility can keep a club's pocketbook healthy, too. Right up there with location, membership fees and hours of operation, a clean environment is crucial to attracting and retaining members.

At Main Event Fitness in Marietta, GA, providing a clean club to its members is a priority. During the day, a staff member cleans where it seems necessary, and at night, a detail crew cleans and disinfects all equipment, says Robert Scully, co-owner of the facility. A year ago, he even invested in an air sanitizer that performs ultraviolet germicidal irradiation. Is he concerned with MRSA? Absolutely.

“Fitness and wellness facilities like ours will need to stay in close touch with developments while using their best efforts to reduce risks at every location,” he says. “We think that we are doing as well as can be done at this point.”

Few of Main Event Fitness' members and potential members ask about the club's clean-air commitment and other cleaning protocols, but when you walk into the facility, the attention to detail shows, Scully says.

In fact, the perception of cleanliness may be paramount to getting and keeping members. For Skip Lennon, owner of 12 Gold's Gyms in North Carolina and South Carolina, cleaning is an ongoing and important issue. Lennon hired cleaning crews to come in during the day and at night, and he invests about $1,0000-$1,500 a month per facility (for a 16,000-square-foot club) on cleanliness, including sprays and center-pull towels for members to spray down their equipment after use. The money is well worth it, even if members don't cite cleanliness as a reason to renew.

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