A New ‘Gay Disease’?

People pooling their ignorant again and pinkpanther is a great example but homosexuallity can't be defended by either world view (creation - evolution). Especially not be evolution which should be obvious to all. Did like quetzl's post tho

What's new, and what's alarming, is that MRSA infections are now suspected to be transmitted by heterosexual activity, between husbands and wives and between other monogamous couples. *Infectious Disease News* (1), in its April 2007 issue, reported that three cases of heterosexual activity transmission of MRSA have been identified and confirmed in Manhattan.

Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study on MRSA in Gays says "once this (disease) reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable."

Great article with made cogent points made about who's at risk for the staph infection. Please be aware that the UCSF press office has issued an apology for its biased and offensive news release. You can read it at my blog: http://mpetrelis.blogspot.com/2008/01/gays-want-apology-from-ucsf-on-staph.html . And the UCSF site has also posted the apology: http://pub.ucsf.edu/newsservices/ .

MRSA has been around for quite a while. It is a nasty virulent little bug that has the tendency to attack the white blood cells that arrive to kill it. I have had it for over a year and a half. Before I was even diagnosed I had passed the bug to my husband and infant daughter. Although I am a nurse I was more than likely exposed to it at my local gym. An open wound gave it a portal and from there it was downhill. I see an infectious disease doc who refuses to write antibiotics unless the wound doesn't drain or if the location of it is in proximity to the brain or spinal cord. Before I saw this doctor, my other physicians kept writing me antibiotics and I continued to get these skin infections at least 2 times a month. On top of that, those 3 physicians were writing to WRONG DRUG! Since I have started seeing my specialist my frequency of infection has decreased dramatically and I have only had 3 infections in the last year. This is because my body has learned to recognize this bug and fight it off on it's own. Granted this is not an option for those that are immune compromised, but for your average person, yea, this is the way to go. If you have been Dx with MRSA, I urge you, demand a referral to a physician who specializes in infectious diseases.

MRSA has been around for quite a while. It is a nasty virulent little bug that has the tendency to attack the white blood cells that arrive to kill it. I have had it for over a year and a half. Before I was even diagnosed I had passed the bug to my husband and infant daughter. Although I am a nurse I was more than likely exposed to it at my local gym. An open wound gave it a portal and from there it was downhill. I see an infectious disease doc who refuses to write antibiotics unless the wound doesn't drain or if the location of it is in proximity to the brain or spinal cord. Before I saw this doctor, my other physicians kept writing me antibiotics and I continued to get these skin infections at least 2 times a month. On top of that, those 3 physicians were writing to WRONG DRUG! Since I have started seeing my specialist my frequency of infection has decreased dramatically and I have only had 3 infections in the last year. This is because my body has learned to recognize this bug and fight it off on it's own. Granted this is not an option for those that are immune compromised, but for your average person, yea, this is the way to go. If you have been Dx with MRSA, I urge you, demand a referral to a physician who specializes in infectious diseases.

Staph bacteria is a very common bacteria that is on everyones skin. When people take antibiotics, it goes into the skin and the bacteria there are affected. Some die and leave the more resistant bacteria behind to flourish. Antibiotic resistant staff is more common in hospitals, but is increasing in the general public. Not just in the public or the gay community. San Francisco is just a hot spot because more HIV positive men come here for the medical services available and they are more susceptible to a variety of ailments, not just staff. It's kind of like saying that there is a cancer epidemic in a town where there is a highly regarded cancer treatment center.

Even those of us who are sympathetic to the concerns of the gay community understand the promiscuity of gay men. My friend who is a gay male used to acknowledge that fact. I asked him why gay women were not prone to diseases much at all. He said because it takes a woman to create stability in a relationship. He said men by their very nature are more likely to at least want to spread their seed around and it doesn't matter whether the man is gay or straight. Men are, he thought by their very genetic stricture, more inclined to be promiscuous until they have the stability of a woman, marriage or children to force them into fidelity. Many men (less women) stray from monogamy because I believe, it is in their genetic code which compels them to do so.

We all Carry Streptococcus aureus on our skin, they are part of our normal flora. Because bacteria can reproduce very rapidly and have minimal safeguards against mutation, it is not a suprise that drug resistant strains have become more prevalent. The fact that we as a society are more likely to prescribe antibiotics for any little sign of sickness is causing such strains to become more prevalent. We could all be potentially carrying a Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain without even knowing it. This has absolutely nothing to do with being gay. MRSA only becomes a problem when you are immunocompromised, and have open wounds/tears in your skin. Now, if there is an increasing number of "immunocompromised" gay men (e.g. due to being HIV Positive or suffering from AIDS) in the urban areas mentioned in the article, THAT is truely something to worry about.

We all Carry Streptococcus aureus on our skin, they are part of our normal flora. Because bacteria can reproduce very rapidly and have minimal safeguards against mutation, it is not a suprise that drug resistant strains have become more prevalent. The fact that we as a society are more likely to prescribe antibiotics for any little sign of sickness is causing such strains to become more prevalent. We could all be potentially carrying a Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strain without even knowing it. This has absolutely nothing to do with being gay. MRSA only becomes a problem when you are immunocompromised, and have open wounds/tears in your skin. Now, if there is an increasing number of "immunocompromised" gay men (e.g. due to being HIV Positive or suffering from AIDS) in the urban areas mentioned in the article, THAT is truely something to worry about.

The risk of contracting disease whether it is HIV, MERSA or other sexually transmitted diseases goes up the more people with whom one has sexual contact. That is simply a fact for anyone. Other diseases including MRSA CAN still be transmitted in ways other than sexual. If gay men or straight men or anyone are having multiple sexual liaisons especially without protection they increase their chance for disease. End of story.

It's troublesome that articles like this try so assiduously to discourage the idea that having multiple, anonymous sexual encounters is a bad idea. This practice is rampant among gay men. I know this because I am gay and spent years doing it. Thank God I am relatively healthy. I did contract, at the height of my "self-expression," pubic lice (a few times), herpes, mononucleosis and hepatitis A. I think it would be a good idea to avoid HIV and MRSA USA300. Don't you agree?

Woiuld it then be accurate to say it "primarily a gay disease". The numbers speak for themselves. It is affecting the gay community more than anyone else. It is being transmitted primarily as a result of sex. How less complicated could the issue be. How quickly the gay community will throw out their knee jerk response of "homophobia".

Any serious investigation would have revealed that MRSA is prominent in Mixed Martial Arts fighting. Talk to any MMA fighter and any MMA gym in the country and they will relate stories about fighters having MRSA and having to go to the hospital for treatments. Extensive measures are taken at these gyms to prevent the spread, such as daily sanitizing of grappling matts and equipment, heightened hygeine protocol, and suspension of anyone reporting skin abnormalities of any type. I myself feared a small MRSA infection on one of my arms (heteresexual, married with one daughter) where skin to skin contact commonly occurs when fighting. I doused it twice a day with Hydrogen Peroxide and it finally went away after about 3 weeks. I also immediately reported it to my gym to help track down the culprit who was spreading it. What is it with reporters being so lazy and unthorough these days?

TO MacLean: The article states that a strain of MRSA, called MRSA USA300, is 13 times more likely to infect sexually active gay men. That is a scientific fact. It didn't state that other strains of MRSA weren't more likely to infect other groups.

To MacLean: Read the article before you fly off the handle with irrelevant stats. The article states that a strain of MRSA, called MRSA USA300, is 13 times more likely to infect sexually active gay men. It didn't say that other strains weren't more likely to infect other groups.

To C. MacLean - Reading the Newsweek story, they were not reporting on the disease itself, but were reporting on the fact that it was being called a "gay disease" by many media outlets. They did a good job of interviewing the correct, unbiased people to state it was a disease that affects everyone, and not just the gay community.