BehindTheMedspeak: 'Girlie-Men' shouldn't play football

Football players who engage in cosmetic body shaving are six times more likely to become infected with MRSA (methicillin-resistant staphlococcus aureus).

The report was published in the November 15 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

MRSA is bad stuff: it's a drug-resistant bacterium that most commonly infects the skin, heart, or central nervous system of hospitalized patients.

In recent years, a more virulent strain has emerged that can infect healthy people.

Dr. Elizabeth Begier of the Connecticut Department of Public Health, the lead author of the report, said that shaving creates micro-abrasions - small breaks in the skin.

Of the players interviewed for the study, 28% shaved areas other than the face, most commonly the chest, groin, and arms.

Begier recommends discontinuing the practice of body shaving.