Infectious disease agent surveillance in fitness centers in northern cyprus: is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (mrsa) infection a threat?

Fitness centers offer an opportunity for investigating the indirect transmission of pathogens. Many people with varying levels of personal hygiene share sports equipment where direct surface-to-skin contact occurs. This study aimed to investigate the bacterial load and fungal and methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) contamination on predetermined sports equipment in fitness centers in Northern Cyprus. Additionally, volunteer personal trainers and gym members were screened to detect whether they were carriers of MRSA. Samples were collected from six fitness centers on sports equipment. MRSA carrier status was investigated for personal trainers (n=10) and gym members (n=100). The study used culture-dependent techniques and used SPSS 20 software for statistical analysis. There was no statistically significant difference between fungal growth on the sports equipment, and Aspergillus spp. were predominant. However, one of the fitness centers had a statistically significant difference in fungal growth compared to the others (p<0.005). There was no significant difference in the bacterial load among the sports equipment, but there was a significant difference among the fitness centers (p<0.009). Among all tested individuals, only 2.7% (3/110) were MRSA-positive, all of whom were gym members. No MRSA was detected on any of the equipment. Despite the increasing incidence of community-acquired MRSA infections, the fitness centers in this study did not appear to be significant sources of staphylococcal or fungal infections. However, the detection of MRSA carriers among gym members suggests that the spread of MRSA between individuals in gyms is still possible.