New Deadly Flesh Eating Mrsa Bug Set To Sweep The World

[LaoPo]

Drug-resistant staph found to be passed in gay sex

Reuters Mon Jan 14, 2008

A 2005 colorized scanning electron micrograph shows clumps of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bacteria. A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday.

By Amanda Beck

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday.

They said methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles.

Sexually active gay men in San Francisco are 13 times more likely to be infected than their heterosexual neighbors, the researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

"Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable," said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study. "That's why we're trying to spread the message of prevention."

According to chemical analyses, bacteria are spreading among the gay communities of San Francisco and Boston, the researchers said.

"We think that it's spread through sexual activity," Diep said.

This superbug can cause life-threatening and disfiguring infections and can often only be treated with expensive, intravenous antibiotics.

It killed about 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.

About 30 percent of all people carry ordinary staph chronically. It can be passed by touching other people or by depositing the bacteria on surfaces or objects.

The bacteria can cause deep-tissue infections if they enter the body through a wound in the skin.

Of those people who carry staph, most carry it in their noses but community-based MRSA also can live in and around the anus and is passed between sexual partners.

Incidence of MRSA is rising along with the resurgence of syphilis, rectal gonorrhea, and new HIV infections partly because of changes in beliefs about the severity of HIV and an increase in risky behaviors, such as illicit drug use and having sex that abrades the skin, Diep's team wrote.

"Your likelihood of contracting each of these diseases increases with the number of sexual partners that you have," Diep said. "The same can probably be said for MRSA."

Staph infections often look like raised red dots on the skin. Left untreated, the areas can swell and fill with pus.

The best way to avoid infection is by washing the hands or genitals with soap and water, Diep said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idU...0080114?sp=true

LaoPo

[taxexile]

A potentially deadly and highly drug resistant strain of MRSA has developed which can lead to a flesh-eating form of pneumonia, researchers have warned.

Spreading rapidly among gay men in several major US cities, the bug can cause boils as large as tennis balls, blood poisoning or a necrotising condition which eats away at a person's lungs.

The type of Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus MRSA was identified in gay men in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles.

Resistant to most front-line antibiotic drugs, the new strain is a far more vicious form of MRSA, which is commonly found in hospitals.

It is thought to be spread by sexual contact, researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

advertisementExperts, who found sexually active gay men in San Francisco were 13 times more likely to be infected than heterosexuals, fear promiscuous gay or bisexual men could spread the new bug to the general community, mirroring the infection route behind the early HIV epidemic of the 1980s.

The strain is also prevalent among injecting drug users and players of contact sports such as wrestling or American football.

"Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable,” said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study.

“That’s why we’re trying to spread the message of prevention.”

In San Francisco’s Castro district, home to the highest concentration of gay people in the US, about one in 588 people are carrying the multi-drug resistant bug.

"We probably had it here first, and now it is spreading elsewhere,” said Dr Diep. “This is a national problem, and San Francisco is at the epicenter.”

The new strain, first detected in a San Francisco patient in 2003, is a version of a recently identified community form of MRSA known as USA300 but even harder to treat.

The USA300 strain was first identified in 1999 after it killed four young children in North Dakota and has since become a serious problem, responsible for the majority of admissions for infectious diseases in US hospitals.

Although only two cases of the lethal strain have been recorded in the UK, experts fear it may only be a matter of time before it becomes established in Britain.

Dr Diep 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.

"The potential widespread dissemination of the multi-resistant form of USA300 into the general population is alarming."

Dr Diep said one way to avoid infection was to wash thoroughly with soap and water, especially after sexual activities.

Professor Mark Enright, from Imperial College and St Mary's Hospital, London, Britain's leading authority on MRSA, said: "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, which is very worrying."

Prof Enright said "flesh-eating" necrotising pneumonia was difficult to treat and half of all those infected in this way died.

daily telegraph , uk.

[LaoPo]

Similar article was posted (by me) here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=164131

Mods: maybe merge ?

LaoPo

[Ijustwannateach]

If I read this correctly, the main warning is to continue having safer sex, with fewer partners- a normal recommendation for reducing risk of STD's.

As the article says, normal staph is carried "chronically" (forever) by about 30% of all persons (not just gays).

But risky behaviours (unsafe sex, sex that abrades the skin) have increased transmission of the drug-resistant sort apparently- and like HIV the initial vector appears to be sex between gay men. This will no doubt spread to sex between straight persons, but not before we're "blamed" for it.

"S"

[Who, me ?]

SCARY......

[Theyreallrubbish]

SCARY......

Agreed. Can't wait for my airtight Hazchem suit to be delivered. Going to be a bit hot walking down Sukhumvit, but you can't be too careful

[seonai]

It's very sad that these new diseases often focus on Gay people??? Why?

[Theyreallrubbish]

It's very sad that these new diseases often focus on Gay people??? Why?

Three reasons.

One is the very high rate of promiscuity among gay men, which exposes them to a wider variety of bugs in an "intimate" way.

Second is that promiscuous gay men have a very high rate of STD infection and lower immune systems due to these frequent infections and also frequent drug use that goes along with the lifestyle, making them more vulnerable to infections.

Third is the nature of homosexual sexual activities. The walls of the rectum are fragile and there is usually some trauma making the blood vessels in the wall easily entered by pathogens which are also delivered into that area in large amounts in a nutritive medium.

Lesbians don't have infection rates at higher than the normal population. Looking at the reasons for gay male infections, you can probably work out why.

[Jai Dee]

Similar article was posted (by me) here:

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=164131

Mods: maybe merge ?

LaoPo

Done.

[moldy]

It's very sad that these new diseases often focus on Gay people??? Why?

well that's just the way it is, it's not prejudice or anything. Also the type of activities they engage in tend to lead to greater risk of infection, and some tend to be highly promiscuous for a few years which can spread disease like wildfire. Eventually, most bacterial diseases spread through the whole community as they are equal opportunity invaders.

[peter991]

Thanks for the update, LaoPo.

One question: I looked up Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus on WiKi - but I didn't learn anything new. Is MRSA the same as Golden Staph - a super-bug which has been a problem in Australian hospitals for many years - or is it something else?

Peter

[toptuan]

If I read this correctly, the main warning is to continue having safer sex, with fewer partners- a normal recommendation for reducing risk of STD's.

As the article says, normal staph is carried "chronically" (forever) by about 30% of all persons (not just gays).

But risky behaviours (unsafe sex, sex that abrades the skin) have increased transmission of the drug-resistant sort apparently- and like HIV the initial vector appears to be sex between gay men. This will no doubt spread to sex between straight persons, but not before we're "blamed" for it.

"S"

Safe, safer = still entertains the possibility of Russian roulette with death

Maybe we should push for the 100% STD avoidance advice? Abstinence. {Courtesy, Bush administration)

[Jingthing]

Maybe we should push for the 100% STD avoidance advice? Abstinence. {Courtesy, Bush administration)

This won't play in Pattaya.

But it is true condoms can't prevent everything.

[Ijustwannateach]

Abstinence will protect me from STDs, but not from being crushed by a rock falling from the sky- or bird flu- or being run over by a car on the road. We all take risks, even in leaving home in the morning- and the reward versus risk equation depends on our individual values and behaviours. I'm quite happy with my own level of reward versus risk. Could people who have excessive fear of STDs risk unnecessarily low quality of life? Depends on them, of course.

[PeaceBlondie]

This is frightening news, first of all for gay men, but ultimately for everybody who cares about other people.

Safer sex, or no sex at all. How many active heterosexuals want to try abstinence for the next twenty years? Likewise, active gay men don't want to, either.

What form of MRSA is a big problem in the public hospitals of the UK?

[toptuan]

Could people who have excessive fear of STDs risk unnecessarily low quality of life? Depends on them, of course.

Sobering thought. Of course, the other equation is active sexually...promiscuous vs. LTRs. Which, likewise, applies to ANY group--homo or hetero.

The statistics show that people who live in satisfying, lasting relationships (vs. single, unattached persons) live longer and healthier. And, of course, lower the probability of catching an STD providing both partners are faithful.

Interesting scenario of trade-offs.

Edited January 16, 2008 by toptuan

[seonai]

Sorry for being naive... I don't really know what gay men get up to that makes them more vulnerable to be honest

[chiang mai]

I thought the UK was unique in that hospitals there have an extremely serious problem with MRSA - it's worrying to note the problem affects hospitals worldwide, seemingly. Even more disturbing is the focus on gay sex transfer of the new strain, reminiscent of the AIDS crisis when it first broke - the association with gay people is not helpful in dealing with the problem, as we all found out with AIDS.

[Jingthing]

Well, I am OK with wherever science leads us. But AIDs did start with monkeys, and it got helped along with monkey business, gay and straight.

[PeaceBlondie]

Sorry for being naive... I don't really know what gay men get up to that makes them more vulnerable to be honest

Let me cure you of naivete, seonai. Gay and straight men put their penis inside the rectums of men and women. Gay men do it more often than straight men do it. The receiver of anal intercourse is at high risk of infections. But then, the straight woman who practices sex without condoms receives injections of diseased material in her vagina.

Gay sex can be monogamous, and often is. In fact, gay sex is often non-anal. But there are fewer reasons for gay partners to be monogamous, than for straight partners.

[thaigene2]

Abstinence will protect me from STDs, but not from being crushed by a rock falling from the sky- or bird flu- or being run over by a car on the road. We all take risks, even in leaving home in the morning- and the reward versus risk equation depends on our individual values and behaviours. I'm quite happy with my own level of reward versus risk. Could people who have excessive fear of STDs risk unnecessarily low quality of life? Depends on them, of course.

Hi Ijustwannateach

This isn't bashing gays or anyone else...but the sentence I hilighted needs to be considered. The problem with this statement is that YOU may be "happy with [your] level of risk reward" - but doesn't someone else need to be involved to make you happy with your risk reward? And therefore doesn't that mean that this is not just about you?

I'm not flaming, it's just an interesting response that I feel needs more discussion/thought since this is not about an "individual's" RIGHT to anything - it involves others...

[moldy]

Just joking here blondie, you write: Gay and straight men put their penis inside the rectums of men and women. The way it's worded suggests that a straight man might put his todger inside the rectums of men too, in which case these straight men wouldn't be straight.

BUT, I totally agree with you it's about caring for our fellow humans and it's the best posting so far. I don't want to see anyone suffer and the primary objective is caring for other people whatever their sexual preference, it's especially frightening when youngsters meet a nasty end.

I hope the medical establishment does not bungle this as it did with HIV/AIDS which in my opinion blurs accepted scientific definition and practice (but my opinion is no substitute for using condoms in case I'm wrong). Let's be aware that although the evidence shows MRSA appears to be sexually acquirable in certain circumstances (those circumstances probably being anal sex, dangerous sex games, extreme promiscuity perhaps drug use and compromised immunity), that does not mean it is sexually transmissible in the true sense, ie, it is not an std proper.

I think the major issue here is that up until now MRSA has been confined to hospital type settings. This is the first example of it being observed at large in the population. This is the particularly worrying part. My guess is that spread of the MRSA might be far quicker, wider, and certainly more acute than the virus thought to cause AIDS.

We are told that the bacteria causing MRSA is present in quantity in the nasal passages of 30% of people who might be regarded as carriers. And indeed the bacteria is present in every human soul in the skin I think. I don't doubt the science, it's there, it's observable, it meets the standards, but I'm puzzled as to why this virus that lives in the nose can then go on to create such devastation in other people. Can anybody help?

[moldy]

error : of course MRSA is caused by a bacteria not a virus. I also note #4 which provides a very concise explanation of what causes MRSA.

[PeaceBlondie]

A friend of mine, with a very good Ph.D. in bacteriology, was totally unemployable in the late 1990's, and hasn't worked since, because all the disease research was going to virologists. Perhaps bacteriological research has gotten the short end of the funds for decades, and will need to catch up.

[Pepe']

Sorry for being naive... I don't really know what gay men get up to that makes them more vulnerable to be honest

Let me cure you of naivete, seonai. Gay and straight men put their penis inside the rectums of men and women. Gay men do it more often than straight men do it. The receiver of anal intercourse is at high risk of infections. But then, the straight woman who practices sex without condoms receives injections of diseased material in her vagina.

Gay sex can be monogamous, and often is. In fact, gay sex is often non-anal. But there are fewer reasons for gay partners to be monogamous, than for straight partners.

-------------------

Sorry for being naive too. If gay sex is "often" non anal what orifices are safer?

The mouth is quite vulnerable to a variety of STDs including staff.

What's left?

[PeaceBlondie]

Sorry for being naive too. If gay sex is "often" non anal what orifices are safer?

The mouth is quite vulnerable to a variety of STDs including staff.

What's left?

The mouth has natural defenses against infection. You probably know more medicine than most of us. Does the vagina have natural safeguards against infection?

[Pepe']

Sorry for being naive too. If gay sex is "often" non anal what orifices are safer?

The mouth is quite vulnerable to a variety of STDs including staff.

What's left?

The mouth has natural defenses against infection. You probably know more medicine than most of us. Does the vagina have natural safeguards against infection?

---------------------

Gyn. is not my specialty but correct PH level and natural flora "theoretically" give the vagina some protection.

However bacterial vaginosis is at epidemic levels.

Both mouth and vagina are vulnerable to syph, gonn, chlam, HPV herpes etc don't know the stats from the hip.

Probably can google...

[taxexile]

Probably can google

....... or gargle.

[moldy]

A friend of mine, with a very good Ph.D. in bacteriology, was totally unemployable in the late 1990's, and hasn't worked since, because all the disease research was going to virologists. Perhaps bacteriological research has gotten the short end of the funds for decades, and will need to catch up.

therein lies a tale. When HIV was touted as a viral cause of AIDS, virologists did indeed receive huge funds. Most think that was justified given that the common perception was that AIDS would be a major epidemic, a monority disagreed vehemently. Without a doubt other specialities have suffered, not limited to bacteriologists incidentally.

Going back to the whose going to be the whipping boy issue, again the gay community might well call foul; perhaps quite rightly. A little logic would obviously tell us that the spotlight should fall on those 30% of us who are st. A carriers as this is the primary source. It is these people who unfortunately have probably been using antibiotics that have subsequently led to resistant strains. So I guess health screening is called for to identify carriers, educate about possible ways of reducing infection, and possibly rationalising prescription of antibiotics to this group for minor infections, eg, gastro enteritis, and URTI. That's tough but hel_l I'd hate to think that i could be responsible for giving anyone such a wretched condition.

But my guess is bungling authorities will instead gain access to billions so they can chase pie in the sky quick fix solutions rather than deal with the matter in hand.

I do however remember reading a reliable BBC article that suggests a new generation of antibiotics will come along very shortly to cater for st. a sufferers;let's hope so.

[seonai]

Thanks PB. So is it the fact that it's bottoms that makes gay men more vulrnerable ie as the protection against bacteria is lessened there? Or is it promiscuity that hightens the risk? All very interesting. The bottom thing is widely practised in Arabic countires I have heard. Wonder if they have this bug there?