Recently served with complaints from two students, Huntington Beach High School is facing the latest type of litigation that involves staph infections. The students claim that they contracted staph infections from their football equipment. In an Orange County Register interview, Huntington Beach High football coach Eric Lo stated, "If it was an outbreak because of our equipment then 15 to 20 kids would be coming down with staph infections." Contrary to Mr. Lo's statement, medical studies show that staph bacteria can live on equipment for minutes, hours and even days. Just because all members of the team do not fall ill does not mean that the bacteria is not living and breeding on the equipment. The bacteria must first seek an entry inside the body - through a cut or scrape, or touching your eyes or mouth without washing your hands. The bacteria must have found a way inside the bodies of the two students at Huntington Beach High and not the others. Lo said, "The way to combat staph infections is showering." While showering is one way to prevent a staph infection, according to the US Center for Disease Control it is just one part of an overall risk management program which also includes the regular cleaning of sports equipment. To read more of this article, please click here.