Gay-eating bacteria

[Rye]

Deadly new form of MRSA emerges

A deadly strain of the superbug MRSA which can lead to a flesh-eating form of pneumonia has emerged.

Research suggests it may be more prevalent among the gay community - the gay San Francisco district of Castro appears to have been hardest hit.

So far only two cases of the new form of the USA300 strain of the bug have been recorded in the UK.

It is not usually contracted in hospitals, but in the community - often by casual contact.

The new strain is resistant to treatment by many front-line antibiotics.

It causes large boils on the skin, and in severe cases can lead to fatal blood poisoning or necrotising pneumonia, which eats away at the lungs.

Researchers say the bug has so far been 13 times more prevalent in gay men in San Francisco than in other people.

In the Castro district - where more gay people live than anywhere else in the US - about one in 588 people are carrying the bug.

In the general San Francisco community the figure was around one in 3,800.

Sex link

Researcher Dr Binh Diep, from San Francisco General Hospital Medical Centre, said: "These multi-drug resistant infections often affect gay men at body sites in which skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activities.

"But because the bacteria can be spread by more casual contact, we are also very concerned about a potential spread of this strain into the general population."

Dr Diep said the best way to avoid transmission was probably to wash thoroughly with soap and water, especially after sexual activities.

The study, reported in Annals of Internal Medicine, was based on a review of medical records from outpatient clinics and medical centres in San Francisco and Boston.

Professor Mark Enright, from Imperial College and St Mary's Hospital, London, Britain's leading authority on MRSA, said: "It's quite surprising that the figures are so high.

"We do know that the USA300 strain is extremely good at spreading between people through skin-to-skin contact.

"The main reservoir for this infection is gay men, drug users, and those involved in contact sports, like wrestling. Having lots of sexual partners and making skin contact with a large number of different people helps the infection to spread.

"In the US it is already moving into the wider community."

Roger Pebody, of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "This is not the new HIV.

"What we are seeing is the emergence of an infection that can be passed on through close skin to skin contact, including sex.

"It is worrying that one in ten of the American cases are resistant to antibiotics, but most cases are treatable."

[Darth Wong]

Congratulations, USA. You have a disease named after you now.

[Ted C]

Congratulations, USA. You have a disease named after you now.

Oh frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!

[wautd]

God takes finally action thanks to the lie of evolution

[Alyrium Denryle]

Congratulations, USA. You have a disease named after you now.

I dont know whether that is a bad thing, or kinda cool to be honest...

This is what happens when one is a bio-geek I suppose

[Mayabird]

Congratulations, USA. You have a disease named after you now.

Oh frabjous day! Calloo! Callay!

No, no, no! The proper cheer is:

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!


So basically, the doctor is recommending that people take a shower after sex and contact sports?

[Battlehymn Republic]

Must be those CIA bioweapons again.

[Ted C]

No, no, no! The proper cheer is:

U-S-A! U-S-A! U-S-A!

You mean it's not "America! Fuck yeah!"?

[Adrian Laguna]

Skin-to-skin spread is rather scary for a lethal decease. Espeically one that attacks the lungs. Imagine, you shake hands with someone, a few minutes you scratch your nose...

[Broomstick]

Yes, that's pretty much how these things spread.

[Broomstick]

Congratulations, USA. You have a disease named after you now.

Took long enough! I mean, Spain beat us with the "Spainish Flu" almost a century ago!

We've had to make do with things like the Norwalk/Noroviruses (after Norwalk, Ohio) and Reston ebola (from Reston, Virginia) up until now.

[Invictus ChiKen]

So how long till we start hearing it is God's wraith on the gay community?

For that matter why is it mostly focused there...

[Lord of the Abyss]

So how long till we start hearing it is God's wraith on the gay community?

For that matter why is it mostly focused there...

"Almost instantly" for your first question.

For your second, I expect that like AIDS, it's a combination of chance and how the disease spreads. Unlike a disease that spreads by, say, air, a disease that spreads by contact is going to tend to spread to those it's victims most often have contact with. In the case of gays, that's other gays. If a disease that spreads like this happens to have a gay "Patient Zero", then it will spread first among gays simply because they don't have skin contact with non-gays as often as they do other gays.

However, something like this can be expected to move fast into the non-gay population, and is; "In the US it is already moving into the wider community". It is much easier to catch than AIDS, and straight people are rather more likely to shake hands with gays than have sex with them.

[Enigma]

Why when the name "USA300" do I picture in my mind the diseased bacteria saying, "This is USA!" then kick the healthy cells down a hole.