SUNNYVALE (KRON) — A South Bay wrestler diagnosed with a highly contagious strain of herpes is calling for the postponement this weekend of the state tournament in Bakersfield.
The athlete, who lives in Sunnyvale, believes other local wrestlers were exposed and could spread the virus to others.
Senior Blake Flovin, whose forehead and face are covered with red lesions, has been diagnosed with an extremely contagious but fairly common virus known as herpes gladiatorum, also called mat herpes, which he believes he contracted
during a recent wrestling tournament at San Jose’s Independence High School.
“About a week after was when I first started to see the lesions on the top of my forehead, and then the day after I first saw the lesions is when it spread across my whole forehead and around my face,” Flovin said.
A senior at Archbishop Mitty High School, Flovin is now calling for officials to postpone this weekend’s state tournament in Bakersfield because he may have unwittingly exposed other wrestlers to the virus while he was still contagious.
Flovin’s father, an assistant wrestling coach at Mitty, is dismayed organizers have so far refused to take action, asserting that existing hygiene protocols are inadequate.
“Legal action is on the table, yes, if something happens to…a kid out there the sky’s the limit,” Blake’s father Rick said. “I’ll sink the ship with this. I’m frustrated.”
Misdiagnosed in this case at first as a staph infection, the virus, which may go dormant for long periods, will remain with Flovin for life.
He has given up wrestling and plans to focus on football.