MRSA superbug found at Rockaway Pkwy station

[Trainspotter]

MRSA superbug found at Rockaway Pkwy station

How safe is New York from the MRSA superbug?

 

The deadly MRSA bacteria that led to the death of 12-year-old Omar Rivera is common - and usually innocuous. On Friday, the Daily News conducted a series of tests on surfaces of common areas in Omar's Canarsie neighborhood with the following results:

 

1. Subway pole on L Train car #8113 at its final stop on Rockaway Parkway, 4:15 p.m. Negative.

 

2. Subway turnstile at Rockaway Parkway, 4:25 p.m. Negative.

 

3. Urinal handle in Rockaway Parkway subway stop men's room, 4:34 p.m. Negative.

 

4. Faucet handle of sink in Rockaway Parkway subway station men's room bathroom,4:40 p.m. Positive.

 

5. Pay phone mouthpiece in Rockaway Parkway subway station, 4:48 p.m. Negative.

 

6. Door handle at Intermediate School 211 main entrance,5:05 p.m. Negative.

 

7. Basketball being used by kids at Bay View Houses basketball court where Omar played, 5:35 p.m. Negative.

 

8. Railing on slide at Bay View Houses playground, 6:07 p.m. Negative.

 

9. Doorknob of Omar's apartment in Bay View Houses, 6:07 p.m. Negative.

 

10. Buttons in elevator of Omar's building in Bay View Houses, 6:10 p.m. Negative.

 

Full story: NY Daily News - October 30, 2007

[Tracknut]

Its good that it was found in the bathroom and not anywhere else where most people touch. I don't think I ever used a public toilet at a subway station. I wish they would check my station.

[NJTransitFan]

All transit systems must be infested in one way or another. That's why you never see me using a public bathroom doing more than taking a leak.

[DOB2RTO]

Goes to show wash your hands thoroughly, when using a public restroom. When done take a piece of tissue or paper towel, and place it over faucet knob/handle then turn off. No sense in washing ones hand, drying them, then touching the naked faucet handle again. That defeats the purpose.

[BMT4Life]

That is why I like the automatic faucets and dryers and hand towel machines. They're probably expensive but on the safe side.

[Harry]

I would have figured that bug would have been all over that subway bathroom. I even hate using the bathroom at my job. They should test a couple of subway lines.

[DOB2RTO]

That is why I like the automatic faucets and dryers and hand towel machines. They're probably expensive but on the safe side.

 

Riverbank Park has them auto faucets, but the touch button hand dryer. WF depot has touch faucets, but touch-less hand dryers. Only if they both combined the 2. The only subway bathrooms I use is at 145 and B'way at night (1 line), and at Westchester Square (6 line), for #1 only. You need a key to get in since the doors are chained/locked up. Good to be an employee, when you need to go. That bathroom at 145st is horrible. The one at Westchester Square is alot cleaner. Heck they even have a small area to sit in next to the bathroom, where you could eat at, while smelling the funk of co-workers come at you.

[R1Toasty]

We just had an outbreak at our school, well, one person got it, everyone else was freaking out, even got rumors of "if one more person gets it, we get two weeks off," or "did you hear, over twenty people got it already." And those were rumors. One does often find the subway as not the cleanest place on the planet, so it would make sense that it's somewhere in there. Good thing there aren't that many restrooms (although, that means I have to get out of the system if I gotta go )

[sebbieprops]

I'm a bit wary about using a public bathroom, especially in the subway system, for precisely this reason. I'd almost rather hold it in until I get home.

 

One of my relatives fell on the escalator at the 161st St. station a few years ago, and had to get a tetanus shot.

[BJC]

I went to 211 back in 2004,in which it was my last year there at that school.