CDC Disputes Study On Staph Infection Among Gays
by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff

Posted: January 23, 2008 - 1:30 pm ET

(Atlanta, Georgia) The Centers for Disease Control is disputing the results of a study that claims a drug-resistant bacteria, MRSA, is now being found primarily among gay men in major cities.

The study which appears in the online version of the journal Annals of Internal Medicine was released last week. (story)

The researchers examined records from outpatient clinics and found that methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is showing up in large numbers among men who have sex with men in New York, San Francisco, Boston and Los Angeles.

In San Francisco the bacteria was found to be 13 times more likely in gay patients than other people in the city.

The researchers said the bacteria appears to be spread through sexual contact.

But in a statement the CDC says that sex and sexuality appear to have nothing to do with transmission.

"It is important to note that the groups of MSM in which these isolates have been described are not representative of all MSM, so conclusions can not be drawn about the prevalence of these strains among all MSM," the CDC statement said.

"The groups studied in this report may share other characteristics or behaviors that facilitate spread of MRSA, such as frequent skin-to-skin contact ... There is no evidence at this time to suggest that it MRSA is a sexually-transmitted infection in the classical sense."


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This is just a bad superbug.... Good hygeine and protection, is the best way to stay safe of it.

Including safe sexual practices among all genders/trans genders who are not monogamous.

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Windy City Times - Drug-Resistant Staph Infection Spreads Among Gay Men

More into the methodology of the study and why/how the researcher came to the conclusions he did.

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Even if you hold the minority opinion, stick to your guns and go against the flow if that's what you truly believe. (CnRedd)

Some of the "coverage" of this issue is interesting, particularly in noting HOW they approach it.
Some articles talk about the actual means of transmission, and the history of MRSA. They talk about what actions can be done to reduce chance of infection.
These take a logical and responsible approach.

Others just talk about the "gay" angle, and make thinly veiled innuendo about what will happen if this "super-bug" "moves" from the gay community to the "general" population. No mention of the fact that MRSA has been around for a long time, infecting areas like hospitals, day-cares, gyms, NFL football teams, ...
Quite frankly, they read less like informative news as they do an attempt to "point" the reader into a general state of mind regarding gays and disease...

The facts are simple.
MRSA is nothing new.
Drug resistant forms of it are nothing new.
Localized population areas of infection are nothing new.

So one has to wonder why there is such a fervor over it today...

Had anybody heard of MRSA on national broadcast news before the "gays" got it?

Yes, but it was limited mostly to hospitals and settings like that. There has been a lot of coverage about it in that context. This is the first widespread outbreak of a particular strain of it effecting a particular subsection of the general population that I can think of.

IMHO that was the gist of the first article.

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Really?
How the heck aren't break-outs at seal training facilities, hospitals, day-cares, nursing homes, NFL football teams, ... not fitting under "outbreak of a particular strain of it effecting a particular subsection of the general population"?

As for "widespread", it's hit a handful of cities. Four if I am reading it right.
That's "wide-spread"?

"The USA300 strain was first discovered in 2001 and initially spread through injection drug users, prison inmates and the homeless, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Today, the strain is being found among all types of population groups, including the gay community. "
Does that sound like "first widespread outbreak"?

"MRSA is responsible for the death of over 19,000 Americans in 2005, most of them in hospitals, according to a report published in October in the Journal of the American Medical Association. "
Does that sound like "first widespread outbreak"?

http://www.247gay.com/article.cfm?id=17825&section=66

I had an American Psycho / Christian Bale monologue flash-back reading this...

I work in a medical facility.. We have been hearing about it for quite a long time.

There is a huge uproar here in San Francisco about the methodologies of the study and the misleading angle they took. I honestly don't blame the Castro district city supervisor for being so outraged. UCSF really was a bit deceptive in portraying this as both new and specific to the Castro.