Gay Men Get New Flesh-Eating Disease

[MercyBurst]

A new starin of bacteria is infecting gay men in San Francisco and Boston:

Real Proposal for Marriage Magazine, New Bacteria Strain found among Gay Men:

http://www.therealproposal.com/815503.html


NY Times Article about New Bacteria Strain found among Gay Men

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/health/15infe.html?em&ex=1200718800&en=d8f1d09b1e96ae83&ei=5087%0A

Annals of Internal Medicine, New Bacteria Strain attacks MSM through anal sex

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200802190-00204v1

Reference Web-site Blog article on the Health Hazards of Gay Sex:

http://scripturerefinersfire.blogspot.com/2007/09/gay-rights-plagued-by-health-issues.html

Revision 1

Human fecal material is unsanitary and should be avoided. The purpose of this post is to warn people to change their behavior to avoid this risk.

The new strain of USA300 is more resistant than the standard run-of-the mill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It is, without any doubt, far more prevalent amoung MSM (men who have sex with men) compared to the general population. The study estimates that MSM are 13.2 times more likely to become infected than the general population.

After much hubbub about emotional issues and motives behind the study. I would like to quote the purpose and conclusion of this new study:

Objectives: To determine the incidence of a multidrug-resistant MRSA clone (USA300) in San Francisco, and to determine risk factors for the infection.

Conclusions: Infection with multidrug-resistant USA300 MRSA is common among men who have sex with men, and multidrug-resistant MRSA infection might be sexually transmitted in this population. Further research is needed to determine whether existing efforts to control epidemics of other sexually transmitted infections can control spread of community-associated multidrug-resistant MRSA.

In addition the motives of the study performed under the direction of the CDC came in question, and the upon review they appear to well-intended to protect citizens from the epidemic this disease could produce. The study was funded by the following groups:

[SIZE=+1]Role of the Funding Sources[/SIZE] Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; University of California, Berkeley and San Francisco; and Pfizer funded this study. The funding sources had no role in the study design, data collection, data analysis, data interpretation, or writing of the report.

Grant Support: By U.S. Public Health Service grant R01/CCR923381 (Dr. Chambers); a University of California, Berkeley, Faculty Research Grant (Dr. Sensabaugh), an unrestricted grant from Pfizer (Dr. Perdreau-Remington); and a Microbial Pathogenesis and Host Defense Postdoctoral Fellowship (5T32AI060537-02) (Dr. Diep) and an HIV Translational Research Fellowship (5T32AI060530-02) (Dr. Graber), University of California, San Francisco; and U.S. Public Health Service grant R01/CCR923419 (Dr. Miller).

The following resources contributed to the development and the analysis of the study:

From the University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, Harbor-UCLA Medical Center, Torrance, and University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, California; Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Massachusetts Department of Public Health, and The Fenway Institute of Fenway Community Health, Boston, Massachussetts; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia; and Brown University and Miriam Hospital, Providence, Rhode Island.

The following medical professionals performed the study:

Binh An Diep, PhD; Henry F. Chambers, MD; Christopher J. Graber, MD, MPH; John D. Szumowski, MD, MPH; Loren G. Miller, MD, MPH; Linda L. Han, MD; Jason H. Chen, BA; Felice Lin, BA; Jessica Lin, BA; Tiffany HaiVan Phan, BA; Heather A. Carleton, MPH; Linda K. McDougal, MS; Fred C. Tenover, PhD; Daniel E. Cohen, MD; Kenneth H. Mayer, MD; George F. Sensabaugh, DCrim; and Françoise Perdreau-Remington, PhD

The study is far from complete on how to deal with this epidemic-capable disease.

I would like to commend these professionals for the great job and many hours of hard work they've put into this.

Thanks for the warning DOCs.

 

[catlover]

As if there aren't enough gay plagues already, another one has popped up among gay men in San Francisco and Boston:

Real Proposal for Marriage Magazine, New Bacteria Strain found among Gay Men:

http://www.therealproposal.com/815503.html


NY Times Article about New Bacteria Strain found among Gay Men

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/15/health/15infe.html?em&ex=1200718800&en=d8f1d09b1e96ae83&ei=5087%0A

Annals of Internal Medicine, New Bacteria Strain attacks MSM through anal sex

http://www.annals.org/cgi/content/full/0000605-200802190-00204v1

Reference Web-site Blog article on the Health Hazards of Gay Sex:

http://scripturerefinersfire.blogspot.com/2007/09/gay-rights-plagued-by-health-issues.html

Human Feces are really nasty. I don't believe God wanted people to mess with it.

If you took the time to speak to medical professionals rather than come to an eroneous assumption which you used to condemn a maligned group of people you would know it is a virus mainly spread in instutions such as hospitals,schools, and other public places.

But what about the general public or the loved ones of nurses who bring methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) home on their uniforms or stethoscopes, in their nostrils, or on their hands? If nurses carry hidden dangers, shouldn’t they be cultured and treated for bad bugs?

Since it was first detected in 1961, MRSA has grown more common each year. Its prevalence, however, varies from hospital to hospital and even from unit to unit within the same hospital. A recent survey reported in Emerging Infectious Diseases estimated only 20% of patients in hospitals with fewer than 200 beds harbored MRSA, while more than 40% did so in large urban hospitals. Overall, ICUs and long-term care units claim the highest rates —often exceeding 50%. In hospitals, MRSA is typically spread from patient to patient on the hands and stethoscopes of healthcare workers, including nurses.

http://community.nursingspectrum.com/MagazineArticles/article.cfm?AID=9194

Of course you will find some other ways to condemn gays, but if you are going to split hairs about MRSA I hope you carry a big bottle of Purrel with you and not touch any unwashed shopping cart handles, or share bath towels with your family members.

 

[Ohioprof]

Hey, Cat. I rarely agree with Mercyburst about anything. I am a gay person. I do think that folks need to stay within the forum rules and not level personal attacks at other posters. I urge you to avoid personal attack statements like the one you just made and instead explain why you disagree with Mercyburst. The rules say that we are supposed to address ideas, not denounce other posters personally.

I send you this in the spirit of encouraging dialogue and mutual respect.

 

[BigBadWlf]

There are no “gay plagues” other than the plague of bigotry.



the journalists here need to be taken to task for trying to be sensational rather than factaul



USA300 the MRSA variant in question here is not necrotizing fascitis. Necrotizing fascitis is a dangerous infection and has been incorrectly called “flesh eating” It is not “flesh eating” but rather something that causes tissue death. Also it is not caused by MRSA but rather sterptocuccus.

MRSA ahs nothing to do with anyone’s sexual oriention nor anything to do with human feces. It spreads through skin to skin contact or through air born/droplet contact. Anyone who works in a hospital or nursing home or any one who has spent time in a hospital in the last ten years would likely test positive for MRSA. Estimates are that one in three people is colonized with some form(possibly multiple forms) of MRSA.

MRSA is not particularly virulent and does not produce more toxins or cause more damage than any other number of bacteria. At issue is the fact that decades of overuse of antibiotics have made various strains of staph resistant to common antibiotics.


Your post is the equivalent of pointing out that blacks have dispropionatley high (hoose one)
Blood pressure
Heart disease
Diabetes
And therefore racism is justifiable

It’s a sick argument you present

 

[MercyBurst]

There are no “gay plagues” other than the plague of bigotry.

You are very right -- this flesh-eating plague is so prejudiced that it only picks on gay men. Perhaps you should complain to the civil rights commission.

 

[Ohioprof]

[/font][/color]

You are very right -- this flesh-eating plague is so prejudiced that it only picks on gay men. Perhaps you should complain to the civil rights commission.

Actually, that's not true. If you go to the link you provided from the NYTimes, you find this in the story:

"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."

It doesn't take anal sex to spread this disease, apparently. Just touching a doorknob could do it.

 

[Pogue]

If we accept it as being true that God sends diseases as punishment, it creates a lot of interesting questions which are problematic for our understanding of God. Would it mean that people with cancer are also being punished?* Why is it that some people who are seriously ill haven't been committing too many sins, whereas truly evil people often enjoy perfect health? Why aren't the diseases we get in perfect proportion to the sins we commit? And perhaps most importantly, why would a loving God send diseases to punish people?

*For the record, I don't believe that, and I find views like that utterly repugnant. Just to make that clear.

 

[MercyBurst]

Actually, that's not true. If you go to the link you provided from the NYTimes, you find this in the story:

"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."

It doesn't take anal sex to spread this disease, apparently. Just touching a doorknob could do it.

The articles speak for themselves. I did not misrepresent anything. It's limited to the gay male populations in San Francisco and Boston but it's expected to spread to the general population. That's what I got from the NY Times article anyway.

By the way, it is very difficult to cure this disease that spreads most easily through anal intercourse.

 

[MercyBurst]

If we accept it as being true that God sends diseases as punishment, it creates a lot of interesting questions which are problematic for our understanding of God. Would it mean that people with cancer are also being punished?* Why is it that some people who are seriously ill haven't been committing too many sins, whereas truly evil people often enjoy perfect health? Why aren't the diseases we get in perfect proportion to the sins we commit? And perhaps most importantly, why would a loving God send diseases to punish people?

*For the record, I don't believe that, and I find views like that utterly repugnant. Just to make that clear.

I don't know where the disease come from, and I don't see God's signature on them, but I do know this -- human feces is nasty stuff.

 

[MercyBurst]

MRSA ahs nothing to do with anyone’s sexual oriention nor anything to do with human feces. It spreads through skin to skin contact or through air born/droplet contact. Anyone who works in a hospital or nursing home or any one who has spent time in a hospital in the last ten years would likely test positive for MRSA. Estimates are that one in three people is colonized with some form(possibly multiple forms) of MRSA.

Apparantly you missed something. This is a new strain of staph bacteria that originated from MRSA. It is more drug resistant, and more necrotic than the others. It is limited to MSM according to the Medical Journal Article.

Your post is the equivalent of pointing out that blacks have dispropionatley high (hoose one)
Blood pressure
Heart disease
Diabetes
And therefore racism is justifiable

You know if I had any of those diseases I would listen to a doctor.

It’s a sick argument you present

I'm not presenting an argument, I'm presenting a medical report. You can pretend I never mentioned it.

 

[Avatar]

Oh mercy, you and poo!

 

[OllieFranz]

[/font][/color]

You are very right -- this flesh-eating plague is so prejudiced that it only picks on gay men. Perhaps you should complain to the civil rights commission.

First, as BBW says, your primary "news" source is confusing several differnt bacteria that are out there. MRSA is not the so-called "flesh-eating" organism. It is a variant of staph which is resistant to many antibiotics, making it harder to to fight.

There has been a minor outbreak here where I work. The people that it has hit are all straight. It definitely does not "only pick on gay men."

According to WebMD, a MRSA infection is just like any other staph infection, but it cannot be fought with many of the more common anti-biotics. The high-risk places to avoid are prisons, military barracks, sports centers/gyms, and schools. Cases that are not associted with these high-risk locations are called Community-Associated cases (abbreviated CaMRSA)

The study that you posted, but did not read is a study of CaMRSA, so they ignored all cases arising from the high-risk sources. They chose hospitals not only in cities with a higher than average gay population, but in parts of the cities where there are more gays than straights, so of course most of the subjects were gay. That most of the infected subjects were gay was part of he design of the study, not the result of the bacteria.

And despite what was reported, the actual conclusion that the study actually concluded was that people whose immune systems were compromised, such as people with HIV, were hit harder by CaMRSA.

Which makes sense. Without effective antibiotics, you have to rely more heavily on the body's own defenses. If you are already fighting a different infection, or if something is suppressing your immune system, like HIV, you will have a harder time fighting the MRSA.

 

[FaithLikeARock]

The articles speak for themselves. I did not misrepresent anything. It's limited to the gay male populations in San Francisco and Boston but it's expected to spread to the general population. That's what I got from the NY Times article anyway.

By the way, it is very difficult to cure this disease that spreads most easily through anal intercourse.

Studies base findings on a small population. No study is absolutely certain and from the look of it, these articles PURPOSELY took people who were homosexual.

If an actual researched presented a study and said "This one study makes my theory absolutely true" he'd have his license revoked so fast it would make his head spin.

Besides, journalists are in no way experts so they in no way count as a reliable source either. Like was said already, they were writing for sensation and excitement, not to present fact.

 

[catlover]

Hey, Cat. I rarely agree with Mercyburst about anything. I am a gay person. I do think that folks need to stay within the forum rules and not level personal attacks at other posters. I urge you to avoid personal attack statements like the one you just made and instead explain why you disagree with Mercyburst. The rules say that we are supposed to address ideas, not denounce other posters personally.

I send you this in the spirit of encouraging dialogue and mutual respect.

Ohioprof I admire your spirit of peace but people who do this "gay plague" hysteria should be ridiculed...especially when a man 50+ talks about bodily functions the way a five year old would.

 

[Ohioprof]

Staph infections are nasty. A few years ago, I got a staph infection in both eyes. It was awful. The doctor found that only a couple of antibiotics are effective against this type of staph. Fortunately, the antibiotic he used worked, and the infection cleared up without harming my eyes.

 

[catlover]

First, as BBW says, your primary "news" source is confusing several differnt bacteria that are out there. MRSA is not the so-called "flesh-eating" organism. It is a variant of staph which is resistant to many antibiotics, making it harder to to fight.

There has been a minor outbreak here where I work. The people that it has hit are all straight. It definitely does not "only pick on gay men."

According to WebMD, a MRSA infection is just like any other staph infection, but it cannot be fought with many of the more common anti-biotics. The high-risk places to avoid are prisons, military barracks, sports centers/gyms, and schools. Cases that are not associted with these high-risk locations are called Community-Associated cases (abbreviated CaMRSA)

The study that you posted, but did not read is a study of CaMRSA, so they ignored all cases arising from the high-risk sources. They chose hospitals not only in cities with a higher than average gay population, but in parts of the cities where there are more gays than straights, so of course most of the subjects were gay. That most of the infected subjects were gay was part of he design of the study, not the result of the bacteria.

And despite what was reported, the actual conclusion that the study actually concluded was that people whose immune systems were compromised, such as people with HIV, were hit harder by CaMRSA.

Which makes sense. Without effective antibiotics, you have to rely more heavily on the body's own defenses. If you are already fighting a different infection, or if something is suppressing your immune system, like HIV, you will have a harder time fighting the MRSA.

Unfortunately, it is hitting hospital workers and medical personel as well. I don't see a hate speech against nurses and doctors and nurses assistants.

 

[catlover]

Staph infections are nasty. A few years ago, I got a staph infection in both eyes. It was awful. The doctor found that only a couple of antibiotics are effective against this type of staph. Fortunately, the antibiotic he used worked, and the infection cleared up without harming my eyes.

Tt is the overuse of antibiotics in the food supply and over prescription of antibiotics etc that is causing these infection and other reasons which don't fit into the OT's paradigm..

 

[Ohioprof]

Unfortuntely, it is the overuse of antibiotics in the food supply etc that is causing these infections.

Interesting. I didn't know that.

 

[Lisa0315]

My husband contracted MRSA after a 25 day stay in the hospital. Hate to burst your bubble, but every human being in the USA probably is a carrier now. It has nothing to do with being gay nor is it a plague from God. Geesh!

Lisa

 

[Avatar]