Posted: Tuesday, December 1, 2009, 1:20 PM | 6 comments |
 

Yarou has Hepatitis B
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Villanova freshman forward Mouphtaou Yarou has Hepatitis B, the school has announced and the Inquirer has reported.

I didn't really want to say this yesterday because the news was just breaking, but to be honest, I really think the school deserves to be believed on this. I know some of you think otherwise, but Hepatitis is pretty serious.

Just saying.
Posted by Jonathan Tannenwald @ 1:20 PM  Permalink | File Under: Villanova | 6 comments
6
Comments   
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:12 PM, 12/01/2009
    He can't play team sports if he's got a blood borne illness. If he's cut and bleeding, gets a bloody nose, etc., the game would have to be stopped to clean up using Universal Precautions. There's no practical way to safely play him that protects players from exposure and the school from liability.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:18 PM, 12/01/2009
    Let me just add that Hep B is extremely contagious. This is not an HIV situation, where you're just discriminating against someone like a Ryan White going to school out of fear and not science. Hep B is enormously efficient at transmission, one of the most the most contagious blood borne pathogens, like an Ebola, that is very efficiently transmitted not necessarily through sexual contact. There is no cure.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:19 PM, 12/01/2009
    CleanupPhilly and Jonathon - I have inside info on viral diseases. I had a similar disease, rhymes with Jepatitis C. Not a pretty disease and downright scary. It was months before I could brightside again.
    — YoNorton
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:36 PM, 12/01/2009
    How did this kid even get through the requirements for a college sports team without a Hep B vaccination? I thought most colleges prove that all kids, both in sports and not, submit or complete their vaccinations as a condition of continued enrollment. You'd have to be sure that everyone on the team and who they play has had the vaccine to safely play him. You're talking about monitoring the vaccination status of hundreds of people. I just can't believe this kid was never vaccinated for Hep B. Sadly in Africa one of the most common forms of Hep B transmission is mother to child, so if that is the case here, I wondering how this kid is on the B-ball team at all. Hep B is much more prevalent than HIV, and it does limit life spans, and is a serious factor that holds back development of whole economies. It's got to be taken seriously. Don't take my word for it, see for yourselves: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hepatitis_b
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 3:44 PM, 12/01/2009
    Unlike HIV, Hepatitis B can more readily transmitted in saliva or mucus that contains blood, such from a common sports minor injury, like a cut lip, biting your cheek, getting hit in the face. It's just about as serious as it gets as a contagious disease.
    — CleanupPhilly
  • 0 like this / 0 don't   •   Posted 8:46 PM, 12/04/2009
    I completely disagree with CleanupPhilly. Universal precautions are applied UNIVERSALLY! They wouldn't have to do anything differently with this athlete if he bleeds on the court than they'd have to do with anyone else. My daughter, adopted from a country that like Africa, can't rely on safe injections and a country where mother to child transmission is common. She has chronic Hep B and the American Academy of Pediatricians has written a report saying that children with HIV, HCV, and HBV should be permitted to participate in any sports. Further, they didn't even say a parent had to disclose to the school or coach. To quote the article, "The risk of transmission is very low. The risk of stigma is high." This athlete has every right to play basketball and his rights have been violated.
    — wubbwubb


6 comments
About Jonathan Tannenwald
I fell in love with the Big 5 at first sight upon moving to Philadelphia in 2002. At various points in my journalistic career, I've covered all six of the region's Division I teams. During that time, I've eaten many soft pretzels from the Palestra's concession stands, which is how this blog got its name.

I write primarily about the University of Pennsylvania and the Ivy League, but I also cover the other basketball and football teams across the city from time to time. In the spring, you'll find coverage of the Penn Relays here.

In addition to all of that, I write Philly.com's soccer blog, The Goalkeeper.

You can contact me by email by clicking here.

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