Johnthan Banks Cleared To Play
October 12th, 2013
In a short statement issued jointly by the NFL and the NFLPA this evening, it appears Bucs cornerback Johnthan Banks, recently discovered to have MRSA, a potentially lethal, antibiotic-resistant infection, has been cleared to play in the game against the Eagles, notes Buccaneers.com.
“The NFL and NFLPA have worked together in response to the MRSA matter in Tampa Bay. The jointly retained specialist has met with the team, supervised the inspection of the facilities, conducted medical examinations and agrees with the team medical staff that Mr. Banks does not pose a risk of transmission to other players. The specialist also met with team officials from the Eagles. All players have been advised of the process and we will continue to work together to jointly monitor the situation.”
Joe was shocked to learn that Banks had MRSA, because the previous day, Joe saw Banks in the Bucs locker room and he looked anything but sick or in pain. He was laughing and joking with Darrelle Revis and generally having a good time relaxing after practice. It was actually the most relaxed Joe has ever seen Banks.
He sure wasn’t acting like a guy who had a serious infection.
Maybe the Bucs caught this MRSA on Banks right away. Joe has been hospitalized with staph infection before and the affected area is red as a beet, swollen and is incredibly painful to the touch. Joe couldn’t imagine trying to play football with the staph, which is less serious than MRSA.
Joe’s just glad it appears Banks will be fine.
October 12th, 2013 at 10:02 pm
I thought MRSA was Staph. What does the S stand for?
October 12th, 2013 at 10:09 pm
Do we know if Nicks will play?
October 12th, 2013 at 10:16 pm
Banks is cleared to play, but will Schiano play him? I’m thinking that with all the publicity circling OBP right now, playing Banks will be one more story to add for the media to fly with. I would not play him. They need to focus on football and let this MERSA drama subside.
October 12th, 2013 at 10:24 pm
@zam, MRSA stands for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus.
Banks could have a sub-clinical nasal colonization with MRSA. Oddly enough, if someone has been exposed to MRSA, the bacteria usually begins growing in the nasal passageways. This is a possible explanation as to why he appears perfectly healthy and yet tested positive.
October 12th, 2013 at 10:30 pm
MRSA infections are often mistaken for spider bites or infected hair follicles. When I had MRSA, it took several days before I finally went to the hospital, and once there, they confused it with a spider bite and still didn’t get me on the right anti-biotics for another week.
I think in Banks’ case, the medical staff knew there was the possibility and possible high likelihood of a MRSA infection and Banks and other players are probably extra vigilant in examining themselves for infections. It’s very likely, Banks had an abcess the size of a pimple, pointed it out to team doc, they tested it, and it was positive for MRSA. Treatment of any area usually requires incision and draining as well as high doses of extra strong antibiotics (usually Bactrim or Clindomycin-fire pellets!) for a longer than two week period. I was on a MRSA-killing cocktail for at least a month and I didn’t poop solid for another month after that.
Also, it is known that 2% of the population have MRSA colonized in their noses. It is very possible that there is a carrier for MRSA on or with the Bucs that has never shown symptoms (yet). I think every person close to the team should have to submit to mandatory nasal swabbing to test for MRSA before somebody gets seriously injured or worse.
October 12th, 2013 at 10:37 pm
Good news.
A lot of weird stuff has happened this year but MRSA is the weirdest.
October 12th, 2013 at 10:42 pm
Joe, Staphylococcus bacteria are everywhere. They are what give you pimples. Most of us have them on our skin, in our nose, mouth, etc. MRSA is serious only because it is resistant to common antibiotics; you have to break out elephant guns, and that creates other problems. Banks condition all depends on the level of infection. It could be a hang nail.
October 12th, 2013 at 10:44 pm
PFT added an update to their version of the story
” An NFL source tells PFT that infectious disease specialist Dr. Deverick Anderson from Duke University found no evidence that the MRSA infections came from the team’s facility, and in fact found evidence that the infections are separate strains brought into the facility from outside.”
So it’s not the Bucs facility…it’s Tampa 😉
October 12th, 2013 at 11:38 pm
I’M A PEDIATRCIAN. ISEE MRSA EVERY WEEK. IT USUALLY CAUSES BOILS ( SUPERFICIAL ABSCESS ). RARELY CAUSES SERIOUS INFECTIONS AND VERY SELDOM MAKE A PATIENT LOOK SICK. THE MEDI MAKE T APPEARS THAT IT IS THE PLAGUE.
October 13th, 2013 at 12:02 am
This is all a lil ridiculous geez
I bet I could test most of us walking around and most everybody has MRSA in the nares or somewhere on their body…The problem is when we have an opening into the body that is weak, like a surgical incision, or open skin from a cut that is infected, or sitting on a dirty bench at the gym when you have open chaffed skin from a jock itch fungal infection
When these type of scenarios present themselves our immune systems are some what compromised and this staph “mrsa” takes its opportunity and make a big friggin mess…once it gets in, it can be incredible difficult to get rid of depending on the several scenarios outlined and the person infected. This in essence is a staph infection which when it infects can be highly
resistent to antibiotic therapies. Yes it can be dangerous…So is crossing the street.
CHILL OUT!!! This is the media’s new “avian bird flu” (from the department of redundancy)
October 13th, 2013 at 2:36 am
You forgot to mention that they also said that they believe the MRSA did NOT originate within our facility and that was based on evidence they have found that it was indeed brought into the facility from outside sources.
I bet for some that crow tastes good.
October 13th, 2013 at 5:14 am
Im surprised he’s playing….but glad he is….WE NEED YOU BANKS!
October 13th, 2013 at 7:24 am
Very glad to hear Banks is well enough to play. We need this rookie on the field.
I’m more than curious, if MRSA is so common as I have read in some of these posts, why does it not show up with the other 31 teams? Just Bucs bad luck I guess.