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New Strain of Staph infection
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=18086925
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I'm also concerned for the health and safety of all our members here at soulforce. Please be careful, be picky about whom you choose to be intimate with, and by all means, be safe. Advice from the medical community seems to be that washing thoroughly with soap and water is a good defense against these MRSA type staph infections. |
Interestingly, since I check medical news a lot, this is the first time I have heard about this disease with specific links to gay people. There have been little stories here and there, but none that seem to reflect the seriousness with which this infection should be treated.
Since it passed by skin-to-skin contact, it can be very contagious. One has to wonder why it is has been linked to gay men specifically, when that kind of contact is hardly exclusive to them. Right or wrong, all kinds of warning bells went off in my head when I read it. Is the link real, or imagined? Does it show assumptions? Since we don't know, the best course of action is, of course, care. The story I read said the greatest number of cases was from the Castro district, which could indicate that was the entry point, and infection of gay men being a logical conclusion based on community demograhics. It is rife for political and religious manipulation, that's for sure. |
I've been hearing some about staph aureus, but the MRSA kind, with specific reference to the elderly and those infected in hospitals, but not a "new" kind of staph aureus. Neither have I heard it linked to gay men - I agree with Andy's assessment: linking staph to gay men in particular seems suspect to me, above all b/c it's illogical based on the casual and easy way it transmits.
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This is the article I read yesterday. It was posted on GLEE.com. It caught my eye because Boston was mentioned.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...E0L8.DTL&tsp=1 |
HRC Response
As anticipated, the Religious Right are having a field day with this. Here is HRC's response:
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I have to agree with Zerbie and Andy The story seems to be suspicious, my mother had a serious staph infection and the hospital docs said staph is contagious no matter what, even in hospitals people are not immune to staph infections. I also read where staph is everywhere, some immune systems are more prone to get it I guess particular ones that are weakened. My ex has a mother who is a nurse and ,she goes to the doctor for everything, she has more illness than I do and I don't even use anti-bacterial soap. She's had the flu shot, goes to the dermatologist, has diabetes, arthritis among other things. She is now living with her mother who is big on the anti-germ thing, and is meticulously clean and they still get sick alot. I figure we are surrounded by germs...LOL Can't avoid all of them. As far as facts by organizations affilated with the right, I wouldn't trust 'em as far as I'd throw them. They see gay people as diseased anyway.
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This is the article I read a few days ago...
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/he...on&oref=slogin
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http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/fu...802190-00204v1 Some key information from the article. Quote:
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Still- it seems that there are gay men with a serious infection which is drug resistant. Gotta know who you are sleeping with folks. Remember the mantra in the 80's and 90's? Medically speaking- you are sleeping with everyone the person you are sleeping with has slept with. Another thing that I think is important here. USE A CONDOM! This is what I believe the editor's correctly put there finger on when they noted that "sexual risk behavior was not assessed". |
Ok here is some info I found off the website:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa_ca_public.html
What is MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus)? Some staph bacteria are resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is a type of staph that is resistant to antibiotics called beta-lactams. Beta-lactam antibiotics include methicillin and other more common antibiotics such as oxacillin, penicillin and amoxicillin. While 25% to 30% of the population is colonized with staph, approximately 1% is colonized with MRSA. Who gets staph or MRSA infections? Staph infections, including MRSA, occur most frequently among persons in hospitals and healthcare facilities (such as nursing homes and dialysis centers) who have weakened immune systems. These healthcare-associated staph infections include surgical wound infections, urinary tract infections, bloodstream infections, and pneumonia. What is community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA)? Staph and MRSA can also cause illness in persons outside of hospitals and healthcare facilities. MRSA infections that are acquired by persons who have not been recently (within the past year) hospitalized or had a medical procedure (such as dialysis, surgery, catheters) are know as CA-MRSA infections. Staph or MRSA infections in the community are usually manifested as skin infections, such as pimples and boils, and occur in otherwise healthy people. How common are staph and MRSA infections? Staph bacteria are one of the most common causes of skin infection in the United States and are a common cause of pneumonia, surgical wound infections, and bloodstream infections. The majority of MRSA infections occur among patients in hospitals or other healthcare settings; however, it is becoming more common in the community setting. Data from a prospective study in 2003, suggests that 12% of clinical MRSA infections are community-associated, but this varies by geographic region and population. What does a staph or MRSA infection look like? Staph bacteria, including MRSA, can cause skin infections that may look like a pimple or boil and can be red, swollen, painful, or have pus or other drainage. More serious infections may cause pneumonia, bloodstream infections, or surgical wound infections. Are certain people at increased risk for community-associated staph or MRSA infections? CDC has investigated clusters of CA-MRSA skin infections among athletes, military recruits, children, Pacific Islanders, Alaskan Natives, Native Americans, men who have sex with men, and prisoners. Factors that have been associated with the spread of MRSA skin infections include: close skin-to-skin contact, openings in the skin such as cuts or abrasions, contaminated items and surfaces, crowded living conditions, and poor hygiene. Also this website:http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/mrsa/DS00735 MRSA infection ARTICLE SECTIONS Introduction Signs and symptoms Causes Risk factors When to seek medical advice Screening and diagnosis Treatment Prevention Introduction Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection is caused by Staphylococcus aureus bacteria — often called "staph." Decades ago, a strain of staph emerged in hospitals that was resistant to the broad-spectrum antibiotics commonly used to treat it. Dubbed methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), it was one of the first germs to outwit all but the most powerful drugs. MRSA infection can be fatal. Staph bacteria are normally found on the skin or in the nose of about one-third of the population. If you have staph on your skin or in your nose but aren't sick, you are said to be "colonized" but not infected with MRSA. Healthy people can be colonized with MRSA and have no ill effects. However, they can pass the germ to others. Staph bacteria are generally harmless unless they enter the body through a cut or other wound, and even then they often cause only minor skin problems in healthy people. But in older adults and people who are ill or have weakened immune systems, ordinary staph infections can cause serious illness. In the 1990s, a type of MRSA began showing up in the wider community. Today, that form of staph, known as community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA, is responsible for many serious skin and soft tissue infections and for a serious form of pneumonia. Nov 9, 2007 © 1998-2008 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). . DS00735 Also these websites;http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mr...illanceFS.html http://www.vdh.virginia.gov/Epidemio...eillance/MRSA/ http://www.newstarget.com/z020027.html http://tahilla.typepad.com/mrsawatch...rsa/index.html http://www.bionewsonline.com/c/2_wha...roorganism.htm MRSA USA300.Voyich et al. “Is Panton-Valentine Leukocidin the major virulence determinant in community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus disease?” J Infect Dis 2006;194:1761-70. Labandeira-Rey et al. examine the virulence of USA 300 strains of MRSA and show that Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) causes lung necrosis and death with nasal challenge in mice. BUT Voyich et al. tested the same hypothesis using intramuscular and intravenous challenge, and concluded that PVL is nothing more than a marker for the USA 300 strain. The truth may be someplace in the middle. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi...10.1086/509506 Note :USA300 is also known as ca mrsa. Now this will expose alot:http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m...3/ai_n19449387 excerpted from this article: Quote:
Nothing disgusts me more than the right twisting facts and information to demonize gay people.Anyone who wants to use this information to post on their website or to document it or for other purposes, please feel free to do so. Quote:
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http://boards.crimelibrary.com/showthread.php?t=287685 http://www.add-articles.com/Article/...ut-MRSA/142726 http://www.zonegrippeaviaire.com/showthread.php?p=5345 http://tahilla.typepad.com/mrsawatch...rsa/index.html http://findarticles.com/p/articles/m.../ai_n13609417: April, 2005 ,outbreak of community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) skin and soft tissue infection (SSTI) occurred in a college football team from August to September 2003. Eleven case-players were identified, and boils were the most common sign. Linemen had the highest attack rate (18%). Among 99 (93% of team) players with cultured specimens, 8 (8%) had positive MRSA nasal cultures. All available case-players' MRSA isolates characterized had the community-associated pulsed-field type USA300. A case-control study found that sharing bars of soap and having preexisting cuts or abrasions were associated with infection.(Only sexually transmitted by homosexual men?) http://www.pamshouseblend.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4170 |
folks, I've been doing some research, as I see many of you have, and I've arrived at the same conclusions that you have: the study is suspicious. HOWEVER, that has not stopped certain organizations from taking the bait and running with it. Concerned Women for America has already started the gay-bashing. Right wing, fundamentalist news sources are already using this particular study with its sensationalist numbers concerning the infection in San Francisco to condemn gay men. Run for your DeLoreans, folks, we're headed back to the 1980's!
I just posted on my blog about this.....click on my signature below (this terrestrial ball) and feel free to comment liberally on this! |
More information
Yeah right a gay disease.
http://www.omega-international.com.au/multidrug.html -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- This important Special Report of the Bio/Tech News deals with an old and yet, in many ways, new product which might very well have a major role to play in the coming onslaught of these - and numbers of other - disease causing, MDR ("Multi-Drug Resistant") Microbes. That product is "Colloidal Silver". Be sure you read what follows very carefully. There is a real possibility that the information contained herein could end up saving your life or that of a loved one. At the very minimum, your health and well-being could turn out to be vastly improved and strengthened. As always, permission is hereby granted for our subscribers to pass copies of this newsletter on to family members, friends and business associates, provided that you copy it in its entirety without omission or alteration of any kind and that you give it to them without charge. Finally, we want to be clear about this; what follows is for informational purposes only. It is not an attempt by the writers or publisher of the Bio/Tech News to practice medicine nor should it be construed to be such. Readers are hereby encouraged to consult with a trusted and competent medical professional concerning the content of this newsletter and any recommendations contained herein. The Advent of "Andromeda Strains" "The time has come to close the book on infections diseases." Surgeon General of the United States (Testimony before Congress, 1969) To reiterate some of what was said in the Editor's Note above, the 1940's ushered in the age of exciting new "miracle drugs", beginning with penicillin. At the time these drugs were considered the most important medical discovery in the battle against infectious diseases. With the introduction of antibiotic-based chemotherapy, the conquest of infectious disease seemed complete. "The perception in the 1960's was that we had conquered almost every infectious disease," says Dr. Thomas Beam of the Buffalo New York VA Medical Center. Unfortunately, during the next decade that victory began to unravel. Today we know that medicine's purported triumph over infectious diseases has become an illusion. As Sharon Begley of Newsweek Magazine suggests, "It looks like medicine declared victory and went home too soon". -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Disease-causing bacteria are becoming alarmingly resistant to antibiotics. In an address before the American Association for the advancement of Science on February 19th, 1994, Dr. Alexander Tomasz voiced the concern of scientists, clinical microbiologists, medical practitioners and public health professionals about the rapid rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria. It seems that bacteria have bested the "miracle drugs" we've been relying on for our medical security. Some of the more threatening Multi-drug resistant (MDR) "Bugs" which have begun to gain a foothold are MDR Staphylococcus aureus, MDR Enterococcus faecium and MDR Tuberculosis (See the Bio/Tech News alarming Special Report, "TB Alert ! ", which focuses on the prospects of the "white plague" returning upon us with a vengeance). The first penicillin-resistant Pneumococcus was discovered two years before the above-quoted statement by the U.S. Surgeon General. It was found in Papua New Guinea. By 1977, an epidemic disease caused by Pneumococcus was being reported by South African hospitals. The bug had not only become resistant to penicillin but other antibiotics as well, and an increase in its level of resistance by more than several thousand fold was reported. Since the early 1990's MDR Pneumococcus has demonstrated its ability to spread from one country to another, reaching extremely high levels in some countries. Pneumococcus is the culprit behind outbreaks of pneumonia in various communities worldwide. This bacterium is a major threat to public safety because it can be life threatening to certain ill or elderly patients (40,000-50,000 Americans die from exposure to Pneumococcus each year; there's no telling what will happen if MDR Pneumococcus should gain a foothold - Ed.) It also causes life-threatening infections of the bloodstream, and meningitis. Pneumococcus is responsible for nearly half of the visits to pediatricians each year. It is the major "causative agents" of middle ear infections in children. According to Tomasz, young children under age 2 are at high risk of acquiring diseases caused by Pneumococcus. He says "several day-care centers in the U.S. were shown to have particularly high frequency of carriage of MDR pneumococcal strains". The bugs have spread through day-care centers "like a chain letter", says one reporter. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of skin, wound and bloodstream infection in hospitalized patients. A number of strains of this pathogen here in the U.S. and elsewhere have now become resistant to almost all available antibiotics. In most hospitals, the only remaining line of defence against the spread of MDR Staph aureus in an antibiotic by the name of Vancomycin. How long it will hold is anybody's guess. Enterococcus faecium has already acquired resistance to Vancomycin. In 1992 it had become the third most frequent "causative agent" of hospital-acquired wound and urinary tract infections, septicemia, and endocarditis. As of this writing, some strains of this bacterium are not killed by any available antibiotic agents. Tomasz regretfully admits, "If you get the infection, you are in the Almighty's hands." (Imagine being a physician having to face a situation in which your patient has gone into the hospital for elective surgery and contracts an infection "caused" by some bug floating around in the hospital and for which there is no known antibiotic cure! The alert reader will no doubt have noticed that we place "causative agent" and "cause" in quotes (see above), the reason being that the terms are a capitulation of sorts to the "germ theory" of disease, an outdated, simplistic medical model which will one day have to give way to other, more accurate medical paradigms which have been developing despite pressures to maintain the status quo. We intend to keep our subscribers posted on the progress of these exciting changes - Ed.) Infectious disease specialists points to patients, doctors and drug companies for for contributing to the problem by promoting indiscriminate and excessive use of drug antibiotics. Without realizing it, they have all given the bugs new life. Patients often demand - and doctors often irresponsibly comply - an antibiotic for illnesses like the common cold and various viral infections which do not respond to antibiotics. (They don't respond because they are viral. Antibiotics are specific to bacteria and, in some cases, fungi, not viruses. Doctors know this and therefore act irresponsibly either when they prescribe antibiotics for viral problems or prescribe antibiotics prematurely (not knowing if the symptoms presented are due to bacteria or viruses), "just in case" and/or just to give the patient the impression that they are "going something" for them. Ed.) Each dose taken of an antibiotic makes it easier for resistance to spread. Another cause of resistance is the flood of antibiotics which have entered the food chain. Farm animals receive 30 times more antibiotics than people do. These remain in the animal's flesh, which we then eat. And milk contains up to 80 different antibiotics; with every glassful people swallow minute amounts of these drugs. The result: in a recent study at Rutgers University, antibiotics at levels deemed "safe" for human consumption by the FDA were shown to have increased the rate at which resistant bacteria are emerging by 600 to 2700 percent. The antibiotic problem has grown to a crisis level largely because the drugs have been used so widely. This has set into motion a microscopic-level struggle from which have emerged "super" microbes. Scientists believe that these actually develop a mutant gene of resistance to the drug. The mutants then pass on their resistant genes to their progeny. On bacterium can leave 17,777,220 offspring within 24 hours. The more an antibiotic is used, the greater the chances that it will kill off the weaker microbes but leave these mutated germs to reproduce. Eventually, these new version entirely replace the original strains, and the original antibiotic is no longer effective. All this explains the new sense of anxiety sweeping the medical community as scientists stand by and watch while one illness-causing microbe after another wins its battle against antibiotics. Once considered the ultimate "miracle-drugs", antibiotics are now being overcome by bacteria which have managed, by sheer force of numbers, ways to beat them. The April 1994 editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine called for urgent action, including surveillance for early signs of drug resistance and more disciplined use of antibiotics. Some specialists are now willing to admit that, as infections become harder to successfully treat with drugs, our only real alternative may be more natural methods. Return to Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Dark Clouds.......Silver Lining? Since 1938, silver has been standing in the wings, waiting to make a big comeback. Not for it's monetary value, but for properties inherent in it that make it worth more than its weight in gold: silver is a unique healing agent. Once known worldwide as a powerful antiseptic in its best medical form, in the 1940's use of silver was dropped in favour of newly-discovered antibiotics. As a result, colloidal silver has turned out to be the remedy that modern medicine almost forgot. Yet it seems we need silver now more than ever as out once highly-vaunted "miracle drugs" rapidly fail to live up to earlier expectations. No known disease-causing organism can live in the presence of even minute traces of the chemical element of metallic silver. (This includes destructive bacteria, viruses and fungi which, when compared with antibiotics, is one of the things which makes silver unique, antibiotics are specific to bacteria and, in some cases, fungi, but never viruses - Ed.) From his bacteriological experiments with silver Dr. Henry Crooks has concluded, "I know of no microbe that is not killed in laboratory experiments in six minutes." And, while antibiotics are quickly losing their effectiveness as several strains or immunity to silver. (This is another unique property of silver - Ed.) To top it off, silver is virtually non-toxic, making it safe for both children and adults - and even their pets. (Again, a property unique to silver - Ed.) Return to Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- History of Silver Usage From ancient times men have used silver as healing agent. Silver has long been known as an antiseptic with the power to kill bacteria and other germs. Ancient Greeks and Romans kept their liquids free of contamination by placing them in silver jars. The indigenous people of India and the Orient have known about the tremendous healing quantities of silver for centuries. It's still common practice for people in the east to wrap some if their food in paper-thin pieces of silver - and eat it! During the early 1900's a silver foil was still considered the best infection-preventative dressing for a wound. American settlers travelling across the West often put a silver dollar in their milk to delay spoilage. Silver goblets have long been used in religious ceremonies because the silver is known to act as antiseptic , the silver keeps the wine fresh and lessons the possibility of the transmission of germs as the goblet is passed from person to person. Until recently silver has been a stable utensil on the dining table. People cooked on silver pans and then ate from silver plates and with silver knives and forks. Some modern researchers have speculated that by using silver, our parents and grandparents were ingesting particles of silver which aided in their immunity to many diseases. Return to Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Medicinal Uses of Silver Medicinal uses of silver through history have included the use of silver foil and plates to replace missing bone fragments. Silver nitrate has long been prescribed for stomach ulcers. Silver drops are still placed in newborn babies' eyes to kill bacteria which cause blindness. Silver has been used as cure for herpes. A silver-based ointment has been found effective against syphilis, cholera and malaria. It is still applied to certain eye, nose and throat infections. Around the turn of the century scientists had demonstrated that silver processed a certain way could function as a main-stay of antibiotic treatment. Known as "colloidal silver", it was quite "high tech" for its time, but compared with today's silver colloids, it was technically inferior. The Colloid Research Foundation reports, "one of the main drawbacks in the production method of the 1900's was the technology used. The silver particle size never reached its optimum ultra-microscopic size to get the most out of silver." "Colloid" refers to a substance that consists of ultra-fine particles that do not dissolve but remain suspended in a medium of a different matter.The particles in a true colloid normally ranges in size from about 0.01 to 0.001 of a micron in diameter. Although these particles are larger than most molecules, they are still invisible to the naked eye. (To get a feel for the scale, imagine a human red blood cell to be about the size of a silver dollar, coccus bacteria would then range from about the size of a button on a man's dress shirt on down to the diameter of a BB; and, a particle of colloidal silver would be about the size of the period at the end of one of these sentences - Ed). Although there have been a number of different techniques developed in an attempt to achieve a true silver colloid, the best and most effective method is the electrical process since it is the only method which preserves the necessary homogeneity, minuteness of granules, purity and stability to create a true colloid (Examples of other methods which have been employed are mechanical grind, ultrasonic and chemical - Ed.) A true colloid of silver is composed of particles of ultrafine, 99.999% silver, electrically charged and held in suspension in a solution of de-ionized water. According to the Colloid Research Foundation, the highest quality colloidal silver consists of the maximum number of particles of the minimum possible size with the ultimate solution having a huge number of particles of one atom, each carrying an electrical charge. A true silver colloid should not contain any artificial stabilizers of chemical additives of any kind (which are present in some silver products presently on the market; som e even going so far as to use an artificial yellow dye in order to give proper golden yellow colour of the true silver colloid - Ed.) Prior to 1933, colloidal silver was administered in just about every way that modern drugs are administered today. It was injected both intravenously and intramuscularly, used as a gargle for throat conditions, applied as a douche, taken orally and applied topically even for sensitive tissues, and dropped into the eyes. And this great healing power of silver is no secret to world-class scientists today. "Silver is the best all around germ-fighter we have," says Dr. Harry Margraf of St. Louis. Dr. Richard L. Davies, executive director of the Silver Institute which monitors silver technology in 37 countries concurs: "In four years, we've described 87 important new medical uses for silver. We're just beginning to see to what extent silver can relieve suffering and save lives." The comeback of silver in medicine began in the 1970's when Dr. Carl Moyer, chairman of Washington University's Departments of Surgery received a grant to develop a better treatment for burn victims. Chief biochemist Dr. Margraf worked with Moyer and others to find an antiseptic strong yet safe enough to use over large areas of the body. They reviewed 22 antiseptic compounds before trying silver. Today silver is being used in seventy percent of the burn centers in the U.S. This story, reported in an article in Science Digest in 1978, demonstrates the profound healing power of silver: "A speeding car overturned and burst into flames. The 18 year old driver suffered burns all over his face, neck, arms, hands, back, stomach, and legs, - burns covered more than 80 percent of his body. Until recently, this would have been a death sentence. Doctors knew how to restore vital body fluids and salts, but had no way to fight infection, the primary cause of death in burn cases. Fortunately for this youth, a new silver compound killed deadly bacteria and enabled him to heal. He was out of the hospital within four months". Return to Top -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Antiseptic and Preventive Uses of Silver In the former Soviet Union silver is used to sterilize recycled water aboard space shuttles. NASA has also selected a silver/water system for its space shuttle. Internationally, many airlines use silver water filters to guarantee passenger safety against water-borne diseases such as dysentery. The Swiss government has approved use of such silver water filters in homes and offices. Here in the U.S., some city municipalities use silver in the treatment of sewerage. Silver works so well in purifying water that it is sometimes used to purify swimming pool water, and it doesn't sting the eyes as chlorine does. An experiment conducted in Nebraska demonstrates its effectiveness; fifty gallons of sewerage were pumped into a pool without any disinfectant. A standard measure of contamination is the count of E.coli, an organism found in the intestinal tract. The count soared to 7000 E.coli cells per milliliter of water. When the water was exposed to silver electrodes, within three hours it was completely free of E.coli. Japanese firms have developed at least five technologies which use silver to purify the air. Silver is now the latest agent in the fight against airborne toxins and other industrial poisons in the Japanese work place. Return to Top |
http://dev.smm.org/buzz/blog/staph_superbug_alert
Staph Superbug alert by mdr on Oct. 18th, 2007 in Life Science, Biological Populations Change Over Time, and Human Organism 14 Staphylococcus aureus: Public domain image courtesy Wikimedia.There’s a new Superbug scare going on in the United States. The Staph Superbug is an evolved strain of staphylococcus aureus that is super-resistant to several common antibiotics. Called MRSA (for Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus), its most recent victims are an 11-year-old Mississippi girl, and a 17-year-old Virginia student whose death resulted in the entire school district closing down. That was by no means an overreaction. Infections have been reported in four other states, and residents are becoming concerned. And no wonder. US officials warn that the Staph Superbug could infect 90,000 people this year in the United States. In 2005, more than 18,500 people died from it. In the past, most MRSA infections were contracted mainly in hospitals or health care facilities, but what's got officials worried is that the infection is now showing up more in community-based locations such as daycare centers, prisons, and schools. Many people carry Staph on their person without even knowing it. The bacteria can live in the nose or on the skin of healthy individuals without affecting them adversely. It's passed from one person to another by contact, and becomes a problem when it gets inside your body, through a cut or open sore. Usually, traditional antibiotics such as penicillin can defend against the germ. But in recent years, over-prescribing of antibiotics coupled with the bacteria’s ability to quickly evolve a resistance against those antibiotics has produced the current deadly strain of the bug. Health officials say the best defense against Staph is good basic hygiene, such as washing your hands often, and not sharing personal items. JGordon wrote extensively about this in a previous post. Symptoms of Staph infection can vary and depend on where the infection is located. Externally, it can show up as boils in the skin (furuncle) or as a red, warm and painful localized skin infection (cellulites), or cause blisters or honey-colored crusted skin lesions (impetigo), or infection of hair follicles (folliculitis). It's most dangerous when it infects the blood stream because then it can be transported anywhere in your body. These are but a few of the possible symptoms. If you do get infected with MRSA, early treatment is critical. Two drugs that can defend against the Superbug are Vancomicin and Vactrum, but only if it’s caught in its early stages. LINKS AND MORE INFO Post Chronicle story Fox News story Staph infection info Antibiotics Resistance More about MRSA More on Staph infection symptoms Email this page Tags : public health, bacteria, epidemic, staphylococcus aureus, health, infectious Also: https://secure.willamette.edu/dspace...ology_2007.pdf http://www.bionewsonline.com/c/2_wha...roorganism.htm |
Great work finding that study Daniel.
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I'm not saying I know squat, but here's one hypothesis to what's going on: gay man leaves hospital with staph infection and has sex at local bathhouse. Same thing could happen to a straight person ie a sex club, btw. Interesting thing is that the study doesn't give the reader an actual count of how many folks were infected. Or didn't I read it right? It gives a percentage of the population. What do you guys think? I find this curious. |
Daniel what about this?After reading this what is your conclusion about the research?
A reader writes: Interesting that you mentioned the MRSA article from Annals of Internal Medicine, but I'm surprised that you didn't note the limitations of this study. The Annals editors wrote in their summary “The data were passively reported or retrospectively collected and are therefore subject to bias.” They went on: "Our study has limitations... Our incidence estimates for San Francisco come from a passive surveillance system and may underestimate the incidence of true infection. We relied on retrospective chart review for identification of risk factors for multidrug-resistant USA300 infection in the 2 clinic populations; because data were not collected or documented systematically, our estimates of risk may be influenced by selection, referral, documentation, or other biases. Specific sexual behaviors were not assessed or documented in clinic charts; we therefore cannot comment on the association between multidrug-resistant USA300 infection and specific male–male sexual practices." MRSA has been around a long time, and as a practicing Navy physician I have seen outbreaks in millitary populations for years. A 2005 study by the Navy Environmental Health Center that did not make any headlines showed that community acquired MRSA was present in 3-5 % of Navy recruits. There have been significant outbreaks in the SEAL training school in San Diego, as well as the Marine Recruit Training Depot, but this has not made the news. MRSA has also been a problem for years in hospitals and nursing homes. Now that someone has found a community outbreak in a gay population, it's "big" news ... bullshit. Permalink :: Trackback (0) :: Sphere It! TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.typepad.com/t/trackback/2224950/25159356 Listed below are links to weblogs that reference 'MRSA: The |
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Something of the sort happened here in NYC (with regards to AIDS) this past summer. There was a lot of hoopla with the health comissioner going nuts and a mini media circus. It all turned out to be a total exaggeration. We shouldn't forget that getting one's study into a journal affects one's payraise at work. ;) I've be tuning into the Gay USA on our own local Public Access channel tomorrow night to get the lowdown on this. If anyone will know the scoop, it will be Andy Humm and Ann Northrop. http://homepage.mac.com/depeche7/GayUSA/Personal13.html |
I also found this article:
From science direct:Clinical Microbiology Newsletter
Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus: It's not just in communities anymore Fred C. Tenover Ph.D. (D) A.B.M.M., , Associate Director for Laboratory Science Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (G08), Atlanta, Georgia Available online 18 February 2006. Abstract Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections continue to spread worldwide. From an epidemiologic perspective, the risk factors for infections caused by health care-associated strains of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (HA-MRSA) include hospitalization within the last year; having had surgery, received dialysis, or resided in a long-term care facility in the previous year; having a permanent indwelling catheter or percutaneous medical device; or having previously had an MRSA infection. Strains causing infections in patients without risk factors for MRSA are called community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA). The laboratory definition of CA-MRSA is more of a moving target. While CA-MRSA strands typically are resistant only to oxacillin and macrolides, carry SCCmec type IV, and harbor the genes encoding the Panton-Valentine leukocidin toxin, there are at least four distinct lineages defined by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis that fit this definition. CA-MRSA strains are already moving into a variety of health care institutions and causing infections. Thus, the line between HA- and CA-MRSA is blurring. Mailing Address: Fred C. Tenover, Ph.D. (D) A.B.M.M., Associate Director for Laboratory Science, Division of Healthcare Quality Promotion, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (G08), 1600 Clifton Rd., Atlanta, GA 30333. Tel.: 404-639-3375. Fax: 404-639-3288 Here is :http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/509856 and:http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5609a3.htm http://www.nursingcenter.com/prodev/...p?CE_ID=746060 Here is what I typed in for my findings: multidrug-resistant USA300 infection it's origination and causes This seems to me another scare tactic linking homosexuality with this particular infection.. Who knows now they'll probably say Gay men need to be quaranteened now. I also want to get to the bottom of this as well. I will also look foward to Daniel's findings as well as others. But one thing I cannot stand is a distortion of information when it is used for the right's purpose to further stigmatize gays and lesbians and to oppress them. Why don't lesbians get this if it is confined to homosexuality?Suspicious, yes..... This seems of be indicative to people who have immune systems who are seriously compromised. can we always trust what is reported in the media? Probably not, I tend to gather information from other sources or independent news sources and medical and other scientific studies. |
here's the thing that is bothering me about all this: this particular strain of MDR-MRSA was known about in 2003, yet this particular report from California, touts this as a "new" strain, and puts the blame squarely on the gay community. I'm having trouble believing that the report is unbiased, or that it is merely reporting the "numbers". My hunch is (and I recognize the need to follow these more closely) that this particular report is either politically motivated (funded perhaps, by an organization with a a conservative agenda) or, as Daniel has pointed out, motivated by greed: getting published means getting a raise; getting published with a lot of media publicity/controversy gets even more attention, and perhaps a better raise.
the footnote to all of this: NPR reports that an 81 year old woman in NYC has the MDR-MRSA (USA-300) infection. |
Originating in homosexual and bisexual men?
Introduction
Staphylococcus aureus was first documented as a human pathogen in the 19th century. Today, it is a frequently isolated pathogen causing serious, invasive infections such as soft tissue infections, endocarditis, osteomyelitis, bacteremia, septic arthritis, and nosocomial pneumonia. Available treatment options for serious invasive disease due to S. aureus are limited because of increasing antimicrobial resistance. Of particular concern is the increasing frequency of methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA), especially in the United States. Recent surveys of S. aureus isolates report MRSA rates in the United States as high as 50%.[1, 2] The rates of MRSA are higher in patients in the intensive care unit and in those with nosocomial infections (often > 60%).[2–4] In addition to the increased rates of methicillin resistance isolated from hospitalized patients, recent reports cite concern regarding the growing frequency of MRSA acquired in the community setting, known as community-onset or community-acquired MRSA (CA-MRSA).[5, 6] Clinical, microbiologic, and economic outcomes associated with invasive S. aureus infections are less than optimal[7] and generally worse for patients with infections caused by MRSA.[8–10] Vancomycin is considered by many to be the mainstay for the treatment of invasive infections caused by multidrug-resistant S. aureus, in part because of extensive published experience in the treatment of serious, invasive infections and a favorable safety profile.[11] However, vancomycin treatment outcomes in serious infections other than skin and skin structure infections (such as nosocomial pneumonia, endocarditis, and meningitis) are less than optimal.[11, 12] For example, vancomycin cure rates were reported to be 35.5% in a subset of patients with nosocomial pneumonia due to MRSA who participated in a randomized trial.[13] More recently, patients with MRSA endocarditis or bacteremia who participated in a randomized trial and were treated with vancomycin had a clinical success rate of only 31.8%.[14] Several drug-related factors may contribute to such poor outcomes. Vancomycin's microbiologic activity may be compromised in the presence of biofilms produced by some S. aureus organisms.[15, 16] In addition, investigators evaluating S. aureus isolates from patients receiving long-term vancomycin therapy for bacteremia concluded that loss of an accessory gene-regulator function in MRSA contributed to treatment failure.[15] Bacterial eradication rates for vancomycin may also be related to a ratio of drug exposure (characterized as area under the concentration-time curve [AUC]) to minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC).[17] Therefore, vancomycin's failure to reach sufficient concentrations in selected tissues and fluids (such as lung tissue) could also contribute to poor outcomes.[18, 19] Despite maintaining 100% susceptibility in vitro (based on published interpretive breakpoint standards) against S. aureus in numerous surveillance studies,[11, 20, 21] there is growing concern regarding escalating MICs of staphylococci to vancomycin.[12, 15, 22] Case reports have been published of infections due to S. aureus with intermediate in vitro susceptibility to vancomycin (VISA), with MICs of either 4 or 8 µg/ml.[23–29] In addition, there are reports of S. aureus with MICs of 1–4 µg/ml that, when subjected to stepwise passage through increasing concentrations of vancomycin, yield subpopulations with increased MICs to vancomycin (usually at least 8 µg/ml).[30–33] Such resistance in S. aureus has been termed "heteroresistant" (h-VISA). Finally, isolated case reports in the United States of patients with infections due to vancomycin-resistant S. aureus (VRSA)[34, 35] underscore the need to identify new treatment alternatives. Patients with multidrug-resistant S. aureus infections intolerant to or failing vancomycin therapy previously have had limited treatment options. Newer therapies (e.g., linezolid, quinupristin-dalfopristin, daptomycin, and tigecycline) are available, but they need to be compared with other agents that have favorable in vitro activity against S. aureus ( Table 1 ). Section 1 of 8Next Page: Older Antibacterials for Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infections This type of infection has been also documented in Canada and other countries. |
Politically motivated? By religious conservatives who call themselves Christians, hardly Christ-like I'd say. Thou shalt not bear false witness and lie? Do they have any moral standards such as valueing truthfulness and objectivity? Forgive my dogged determination to search for the truth but slander and untruthfulness or distorting information to support an agenda or ones biases doesn't sit well with me.Especially when it is used maliciously to hurt people.Lies are spread all over the internet all the time and people will tend to believe the information unless they take time to read between the lines and do a little research on their own.The fact is sexually transmitted diseases have been around for centuries and are not confined to one particular group. Sexually transmitted disease is common throught out the world:http://www.euro.who.int/document/e79822.pdf
Why lies like this hurt people is because it assumes mainly that homosexual men seem to get this through sexual contact, while not including other facts about this particular type of infection, that infants,school children can get it ,athletes through casual contact, nursing homes, this does a diservice to the public by not relaying truthful and factual information. People need factual and truthful information so they can take precautions, both the gay and straight community.The right can again be called irresponsible for omitting certain facts and as usual their cause is destructive, not for the welfare or benefit of our communities.That may indeed sound harsh but look at the facts. If they only want to distort and twist the truth to further their agenda to oppress gays, they can hardly be called honest. If they had presented the information with integrity it would be different.While they may have had had a valid point that this is a problem with gay men, had they had pointed out other information with a balanced view it would be different. Even the gay community points out certain problems in the gay community but this can be done without the intent to demonize or oppress gay people even more. The problem the right has is they tend to alienate and demonize the people they don't like or agree with, they want consideration for their views but often attack people who don't agree with theirs, liberals are Godless, devils, gay are the anti-Christ, women who have abortions are murderers, and the list goes on. They act as if persecuted and as if their rights are being attacked when in fact they enjoy many priveleges that many citizens don't have.They act as if they own the country and the keys to heaven. I personally think they can't be too happy when they are so judgmental of others.Or when they level meaness and intolerance at those they don't understand or even want to understand. Their ideology to me cannot make sense or serve any constructive end..Their theology is rife with violence, not only animosity aimed at others who don't agree with their world view, but vengefulness and cruelty and meaness. |
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