A strain of MRSA USA300 has recently been linked to homosexuals. Members of the press have released articles that have not been accurate with the scientific information. Some articles have people believing that this is a sexually transmitted disease and only infecting gay men.
The disease which is a form of a staph infection was disovered in 2003 and has been infecting gay men mainly in San Francisco. The press made the mistake of coining this new disease as "the new HIV".
The disease does not only infect homosexual men but heterosexuals as well. The multidrug- resistant strain is spread by asexual contact mostly from the arm pitts and the groin area. In the article it explains that the reporters did not deliver the science portion and embelished on the idea that this new disease is rapidly spreading in the gay community.
The article aslo says how this misconception has fueled anti-gay groups and people to believe that this is a "gay disease". There is no proof that gay sexual contact or heterosexual contact is the cause of this spreading disease.
While it has been linked to gay men this is not to be considered a sexually transmitted disease or the new AIDS. It is simply a form of a staph infection which is can be contracted without sexual contact. Hospital workers have been infected by the disease as well.
The press emphasized the idea that this disease is rapidly spreading due to homosexuals. Unfortuanlty the error was cleared after the reports had been given and people started to fear an epidemic.
I feel bad for homosexuals males who are targeted with this disease. It is unsure why so many more gay men have contracted it but that is no excuse for the media to pin point them and say that this is there fault or they are the only ones who can contract it.
http://bb.fccj.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab=courses&url=/bin/common/course.pl?course_id=_17966_1
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This makes me mad. Anytime something affects a few gay people, it is all of a sudden "gay". "The multidrug- resistant strain is spread by asexual contact mostly from the arm pitts and the groin area." - doesn't that imply that pretty much ANYBODY could get this?!?! I almost feel like the reporters who first addressed this issue put a little bit of an opinion into writing the article, by not reporting all of the facts, which could come across to others that they are trying to find one more way to make being gay an unaccepted lifestyle in our world.
I agree, the media should be careful of what they report to the public. They should research their facts before submitting their work for final print.
In this case, it was wrong for the media to target certain groups of people with this disease and calling it the new HIV.
At least they set the record straight by coming out with the facts. With that it put a lot of people at ease and that is something to give the media credit for.
The media did publish untrue facts, but they immediately reported the true facts after the discovery of the first report being untrue. The main thing that is missing is an apology to the targeted groups of people within this story.
Media is supposed to be reliable. They need to check all of the facts over and over until they are for sure it is correct. There just shouldn't be any doubt. As for the part were the media targets specific groups of people, well they seem to do that frequently and are always condemned for it. In media no matter what you say your always going to somehow offend someone.
This report sounds like a personal vendetta against the gay community.
There have been commercials here in Jacksonville that have warned parents about the contagiosity of MRSA amongst high school students.
Anyone that contains living cells in their body is at risk; and anyone who has half of a wit will blatantly disregard the malicious attack against those communities.
Hopefully, this will earn those responsible for the slander a reputation of ill-repute.
Wow, you know all those 80's throwbacks that are around like leg warmers. Well this is another one,in the 80's it was perceived that AIDS was a gay disease. The public and the media have a horrible inability to recognize issues of importance. This will only damage journalism's reputation and creditable.
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