MRSA and MSM

[rmthunter]

"MSM" in this case has two meanings -- men who have sex with men, and the mainstream media.

I've been blogging fairly heavily on this issue since it came to my attention a couple of days ago. What sparked the whole thing was misleading comments to the press and what I have to regard as an incendiary press release from the researcher.

Jim Burroway at Box Turtle Bulletin has the gbest summary I've seen so far. Here's what the researcher, Binh An Diep, told the press, with Burroway's comments:

With this latest study, MRSA quickly became the newest “gay plague” and lead author Binh Diep rang alarm bells around the world with remarks like this one to Reuters:

Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable.

That comment was like manna from heaven to anti-gay demagogues. But he didn’t stop there. Dr. Diep hyped the importance of his study to the San Francisco Chronicle, saying:

We probably had it here first, and now it is spreading elsewhere… This is a national problem, and San Francisco is at the epicenter.

Dr. Diep also said in his press release:

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

But there’s a problem with all of this. None of it is true.

According to the medical literature — which Diep ought to be well acquainted with — the USA300 variant of MRSA is already widespread in the general population. And gay men, who are in the general population, had little to do with it. If the medical literature is any indication, it’s the “general population” that’s responsible for spreading MRSA into the gay community. (Emphasis mine)

The mainstream reporting on this has been appalling. NYT published a major article that simply parroted Diep's remarks with no scepticism, when they frankly contradict known fact; I haven't seen a follow-up from them, and I doubt that I will, unless they print a "clarification" on page 34. Other dailies have committed the same blunder.

Needless to say, the right-wing anti-gay zombies have run with it, since it fits so well into their agenda. Peter LaBarbera might have written Diep's script.

Mostly I'm just sounding off -- a little tired of being the demon -- but this strikes me as an egregious example of the failure of the press to do its job.

[phoenixx]

MRSA a "gay" plague?? My sister has had it 6 times this year, with surgery for it twice to fix the skin infection it can cause. She's a nurse. RockStarMommy's kid is battling it. It's everywhere. It has nothing to do with "gay" or "straight" - it has to do with cleanliness, overuse of antibacterial products and the unwillingness of people to stay the hell home when they are sick instead of spreading stuff around.

[realtraveller]

The only main stream media I have seen on MRSA was a "60 Minutes" piece a few weeks ago. It focused on the spread of MRSA in high schools among those on sports teams. The MRSA was transmitted through cuts, towels, equipment etc.

[rmthunter]

Locker rooms are one of the worst places for the spread of this. That's one reason I'm so incensed by Diep's statements and the NYT article. (Here's a link. It's a pretty pathetic example of reporting, starting with the headline: New Bacteria Strain Is Striking Gay Men. That is simply not true: it's not new, and it's not limited to gay men.)

Fortunately, Newsweek has come out with a much more responsible article -- not perfect, but miles better than NYT. (I fault them, however, for calling Concerned Women for America a "conservative public-policy group." Puh-leeze!) The San Francisco Chronicle apparently was one of the beneficiaries of Diep's BS.

[mjfrombuffalo[$]]

Times' Follow-Up (today's paper, front page but below the fold)

[hadassahchana[$]]

Feed lots. From what I've been reading, one of the problems is constant overexposure to antibioitics. Miserable conditions on feedlots can only be maintained by use of vast quantities of antibiotics wich are then excreted into the groud water. So, if gay men own all the feedlots, then they'd best quit it at once.


I hate stupid journalism as much as I hate bad science. Which really ought to be called 'lack of science'.

[rmthunter]

Thanks for the link, MJ -- I actually looked at the Times this morning (online) and missed this one.

This sort of stuck out:

“We deplore negative targeting of specific populations in association with MRSA infections or other public health concerns,” it concluded. Dr. Henry Chambers, one of the report’s authors and a professor of medicine at the university, said he was surprised by how the report had been spun.

“I think we were looking at this from a scientific point of view and not projecting any political impact,” he said. “We were focusing on the data. You want to make sure it’s as right as possible and written up in a form that reviewers would understand what you’re trying to say, and do it in a clear manner so it’s not subject to misinterpretation. Which is what happened later, it appears.”

Considering the language used in the release, along with Diep's initial remarks to the press, this strikes me as more than a little disingenuous. I find it hard to believe they were surprised at how the report had been spun when they did most of the spinning.

Actually, as I understand it the antibiotic resistant strains of staph probably originated in hospitals -- they've been a real concern there for years. I know a guy who went in for knee surgery three or four years ago, which went fine -- and then he nearly died of MRSA while he was there.

My beef is, as Jim Burroway pointed out in his post, that MRSAs are in the general population already; the way the press release read was a bit misleading: the real mystery was why gay men had such a markedly higher incidence of infection than other groups. That wasn't really made clear, and Diep's remarks only made it sound worse.

And the press, liberal bias and all, got starry eyed over the prospect of a new "gay disease." (Interesting that NYT had someone else write the follow-up.)

[rmthunter]

I think this has bearing on the whole underlying issue: the rush to panic based on misleading reporting of a flawed study.

[phoenixx]

My nurse friends all said the same thing last night at the bar: MRSA is the name of the bacteria that lives on everyone's skin. If you don't use antibacterial soaps and don't take antibiotics for every head cold and sinus problem, MRSA is beneficial to you. If you bomb yourself with antibiotics inside and out, then MRSA can take over in any open wound, no matter how small, and then be passed on to others through contact via towels, bedding, food prep, touch, or even breathing if the person's immune system is compromised.

They all say we should be wearing face masks all the time already like you see in science fiction movies, because we are our own worst enemy in our fear of germs and overuse of drugs, which creates drug resistant strains of bacteria and viruses. Plus we all have the misguided notion that we are somehow indispensable, so we go to work/school/etc sick and spread it all around, not to mention having the siren call of instant gratification, at which we go out and eat or party sick and spread it around because we don't want to "miss out" on any fun.

They all really feel strongly about it, and get pissed at people who are so willing to ignore the need to stay home and gt well, because it compromises their systems too. Apparently MRSA is taking a toll on the nursing industry. People like my sister are having to quit nursing because they are exposed to rampant drug resistant MRSA so often in nursing that they can't do their jobs for fear of their own safety or of passing it on to patients as they go from room to room. They said too many hospitals are not yet requiring masks be worn at all times by staff because it "looks intimidating" to patients, but that if you are going in for a procedure you should insist on your nurse, doctor, hygienist, dentist, eye doctor, etc wearing one when they work on your because the patient before you could have been a carrier. They also said the best defense besides avoiding antibiotic products and educating people around you to avoid them as well was washing your hands with PLAIN soap and water - not scented, lotioned, deoderized, antibacterial, or disinfecting soaps, but regular, plain soaps.

[wivabef]

This is what I tell the school's in a long note whenever they request antibacterial soap and hand lotion at the beginning of the year. STOP ASKING FOR IT. BE PROACTIVE. MY CHILDREN'S FUTURE HEALTH IS AT STAKE.