This really is the last thing we need.

I’m not talking about the bug itself (although obviously MRSA is a problem and needs to be taken very seriously,) but about the fact that it seems to have established itself in the gay community. I haven’t googled to find out, but I’m sure the Religious Right has already got hold of this and stared beating it’s “dangers of an immoral lifestyle” drum. And if they haven’t, it’s only a matter of time. Mark my words.

For an example, take a look at the Metro’s coverage. Their headline alone is shockingly misleading; “Strain of Superbug ‘may be new HIV’”. I don’t know where they got that quote from (they don’t bother to attribute it anywhere in the article,) but I’d love to hear it justified. Is MRSA a virus? Does it attack the immune system? No. So in what way exactly might it be the new Human Immunodeficiency Virus? Oh yes, because it’s a “gay disease.” Just like AIDS. The ignorance staggers me.

And it gets worse. Further down the article they write:

MRSA expert Prof Mark Enright, from Imperial College and St Mary’s Hospital, London, said gay communities and drug users were particularly at risk. But it could also be spread by those involved in sports, such as wrestling, with skin-to-skin contact.

‘Having a number of sexual partners and making skin contact with a large number of different people is how these infections are picked up,’ he added.

I really hope they’ve ‘massaged’ Prof. Enright’s quote, because if not, he should not be called an expert. Gay communities and drug users are not “particularly at risk,” and Enright knows it; he says as much in the next paragraph. The people particularly at risk are people who make a lot of direct skin contact with a lot of different people. Now, it might be true that there’s a strong correlation, that gay people tend to have more direct contact with others than non-gay people, but that is utterly irrelevant; it’s still the contact, not being gay that puts those people at risk and to suggest otherwise is downright irresponsible.

Obviously health professionals have a responsibility to identify trends in disease transmission and infection rates, and to try to highlight high-risk activities and to keep the public informed; that’s their job and it’s immensely valuable in preventing and treating illness. The problem arises when some rag takes what they’re saying and twists it into an article which effectively says “Oh noes! Teh Gay! It’s making us ill! Again!”

Shame on you Metro, for publishing this: It’s bad science, it’s bad journalism and it’s morally reprehensible.