Staph! Staph! Staph!

Relax...It's treatable. Yes, even the "Drug-Resistant" strains too.

In a wonderfully concise and wonderfully responsible manner Out Magazine reports on how one botched press release can lead to a domino effect resulting in a nation-wide panic and hate from the right.

Actually, even MRSA's formal name, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, is misleading, since methicillin is not the only penicillin synthetic to which this fast-moving bug has developed a resistance. Contrary to news reports, however, which hinted at an unstoppable scourge plaguing gay men, MRSA is treatable, through a variety of options in various combinations. Even multidrug-resistant MRSA, which can't be cured by some antibiotics outside the penicillin-synthetic drug family, is treatable.

These are only some of the gross inaccuracies surrounding this ailment since a team of researchers released a report in January. At first glance, a peer-reviewed analysis of data from hospitals and clinics in San Francisco and Boston, which was published under the aegis of the University of California, San Francisco, appeared to reveal that multidrug-resistant MRSA was becoming particularly prevalent among gay men. A report on National Public Radio and an article in The New York Times by Lawrence Altman, the highly respected medical journalist, set off a right-wing tidal wave of finger-pointing.

Rather than informing the public, the mainstream media inflamed the situation. A British tabloid said there was a “new HIV,” while the respected international news agency Reuters headlined an article “Drug-resistant Staph Passed in Gay Sex.”

The only problem with such reporting was that it simply wasn't true. The authors of the study quickly backpedaled, partly shifting the blame to a young epidemiologist who was the report's lead author for his misstatements. Meanwhile, other scientists and doctors came forward to assert that MRSA is not a new disease or even a “gay disease” -- and sexual contact is only one of many ways of contracting it.

“We've been hearing about MRSA for decades in all people -- men, women, young, old, gay, straight,” explained Melissa Marx, an epidemiologist in New York City's health department who spoke at a city public forum in late February, one of several held at LGBT centers around the country to counter the hysterical claims.

Go on and read the rest of the article. It's very straight forward and as gay people we should hip ourselves to articles such as these to prevent future panics and to understand the latest in our health.

I never hit the panic button during this year's staph reporting. In fact I've always been pretty casual about it. For instance, at the gym, when someone wants to work in with me I always say with a smile, "Of course! My staph infection is your staph infection." (rimshot!) yes? no? Whatever I'm off to Magic Mountain.