Photo Researchers
THREAT Some MRSA bacteria is resistant to drugs.
Duh! The 'R' in MRSA stands for resistant.
Posted on 01/15/2008 10:54:35 PM PST by neverdem
A new, highly drug-resistant strain of the “flesh-eating” MRSA bacteria is being spread among gay men in San Francisco and Boston, researchers reported on Monday.
In a study published online by the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, the bacteria seemed to be spread most easily through anal intercourse but also through casual skin-to-skin contact and touching contaminated surfaces.
The authors warned that unless microbiology laboratories were able to identify the strain and doctors prescribed the proper antibiotic therapy, the infection could soon spread among other groups and become a wider threat.
The new strain seems to have “spread rapidly” in gay populations in San Francisco and Boston, the researchers wrote, and “has the potential for rapid, nationwide dissemination” among gay men.
The study was based on a review of medical records from outpatient clinics in San Francisco and Boston and nine medical centers in San Francisco.
The Castro district in San Francisco has the highest number of gay residents in the country, according to the University of California, San Francisco. One in 588 residents is infected with the new multidrug-resistant MRSA strain, the study found. That compares with 1 in 3,800 people in San Francisco, according to statistical analyses based on ZIP codes.
A separate part of the study found that gay men in San Francisco were about 13 times more likely to be infected than other people in the city.
The San Francisco researchers suggested that scrubbing with soap and water might be the most effective way to stop skin-to-skin transmission, particularly after sexual activities.
MRSA, for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, was once spread chiefly in hospitals. But in recent years, a number of healthy people have acquired it outside hospitals.
Nearly 19,000 people died in the United States from MRSA infections in 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Photo Researchers
THREAT Some MRSA bacteria is resistant to drugs.
Duh! The 'R' in MRSA stands for resistant.
The next gay disease to be blamed on Republicans. Coming to your TV screens in 2010.
Five bucks says that before this thread is out some knucklehead will come in claiming this is God’s wrath poured out on mankind.
“....and touching contaminated surfaces.”
Swell.
Door knobs? ATMs?
Stay out of San Francisco!
I won't claim that but I have heard that the fist symptom of the disease is a pounding in the arse.
Is this about the Hollywood writers?
Today's class is bacteria - relatively large organisms like the staph strain in this story and virus teensy weensy things not in the story but in your post.
MMM. boils in a very nasty spot. Those who are, ahem, imunno suppressed from oh say HIV, are ah screwed.
gives new meaning to the phrase by butt is killing me.
LOL!
MRSA, for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is homophoblic
Man, oh man!
That’s gotta be a pain in the arse
Rah, rah, rah, zip boom bah!
From your above post:
“Nearly 19,000 people died in the United States from MRSA infections in 2005, the Centers for Disease Control and...”
Deadly Bacteria Found to Be More Common
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/17/health/17infect.html
“If the mortality estimates are correct, the number of deaths associated with the germ, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, would exceed those attributed to H.I.V.-AIDS, Parkinson’s disease, emphysema or homicide each year.”
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