HEALTH: GYM GERMS

HEALTH: GYM GERMS

DR. JOSHUA FOX, founder of ADVANCED DERMATOLOGY and spokesperson for the AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DERMATOLOGY: “You work out to stay in tip-top shape, not to pick up a nasty skin infection. However, especially in winter when cold winds rage outside, even the heartiest of us depend on gyms or health clubs to get our weekly dose of exercise. And, as everyone knows,health clubs — where hundreds of people may be using the same equipment,showers and saunas — can harbor germs. But this year, the bar has been raised in terms of scary germs you can contact at the gym; this year there’s talk of a sometimes deadly staph infection called Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, or MRSA for short.”