Frey, who spent five days in the hospital and required intravenous antibiotics and surgery to remove tissue destroyed by the infection, is just one case in a growing problem.
A study of high school athletes in Nebraska found that the incidence of MRSA infections rose markedly between the 2006-07 and 2007-08 school years, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Nebraska Department of Health Community Services.
Among wrestlers, the incidence tripled, going from 19.6 per 10,000 students to 60.1. Among football players in the Nebraska study, published last year in the Journal of School Nursing, the incidence rose five times, from 5 per 10,000 players to 25 in 10,000.
Experts say drug-resistant bacteria are on the rise, due in part to the overuse of antibiotics. While MRSA resists antibiotics in the penicillin family, it is susceptible to other kinds of antibiotics.
The solution is greater adherence to personal hygiene among the athletes and greater vigilance among both students and adults.
The guidelines include:
Discouraging the sharing of towels, gear, water bottles, hair clippers, and razors.
Daily disinfection or laundering of sports equipment and clothing.
Frequent hand-washing and showering.
Encouraging athletes to check skin daily and report suspicious sores.
Jack Foley, director of sports medicine at Lehigh University, said an outbreak on the school's football team in 2005 caused his school to change the way it approached skin infections. That year, 14 players on Lehigh's 102-member football team got MRSA infections.
"It is necessary to have well-informed personnel and athletes in order to promote our best line of defense against skin infections," said Foley, who was among those who crafted the group's policy statement on skin diseases.
Awareness of the problem is critical. Skin infections account for 56 percent of infectious diseases incurred in competitive athletics, according to a study to appear in July in the Journal of Athletic Training.
For Frey, who weighed 285 pounds, what at first seemed to be a pimple developed into an ordeal far more vexing than opposing wrestlers.
The infection proved resistant to the first antibiotics he received. Indeed, Frey ended up spending five days in quarantine at Hahnemann University Hospital.
Still, the junior returned to wrestling two weeks later, and chalked up a 29-9 season record.
Frey feels he won a round against the bacteria, but wants to avoid a rematch. "The whole experience," he said, "taught me the importance of prevention and early treatment."
Contact staff writer Vabren Watts at 215-854-2245 or vwatts@phillynews.com.
