MRSA “fever” has struck the country with the publication of a telling article in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA 17th Oct 2007). This morning I was invited on a radio show to discuss the problem and get it into perspective. I had recently done a piece for subscribers to my ‘Wholesome Living Letter’ on this very topic. I had likened the community active form of MRSA (as opposed to the hospital “superbug” version) to the Black Death from ages past.
One of the other guests, who I suppose I should not name, was being interviewed by several radio stations, including the one I was on. He blamed illegal immigrants, claiming it was their dirty habits and lack of personal responsibility; he also blamed foreigners for tape worms, TB, Chagas’ disease and a whole host of other dangerous diseases.
I followed him and declared his opinion “fascist, unscientific and inciting prejudice and hatred”. Fortunately, he had left to spread his poison somewhere else by the time I said this, otherwise a war of bitter words would have broken out. No matter, I stand by my condemnation of this foolish and ignorant tirade. It’s akin to hysteria. The studio presenter, normally a very mild and civilized man, ended up raising his voice in shock at what “these people” are doing to our country. This is how mob violence gets started.
The presenter only calmed down when I pointed out the stupidity of blaming foreigners, when Americans travel overseas and are just as capable of bringing back pathogens as newcomers! And what about legal immigrants? Does he suppose that bacteria have a way of knowing who’s legal and who isn’t? I myself contracted Cholera while working on my 2006 Tsunami rescue mission to Sri Lanka and brought that to Pasadena (much to the shock of the public health officials):
http://www.scott-mumby.com/mission1.html
As to the tapeworm, that was just pig ignorance. Parasites have been endemic in the US, especially the Deep South, for centuries. Transmission is by food and from pets, rarely by direct human contact. There are some bad beasties here, as you will know if you have visited my parasite page: http://alternative-doctor.com/alternat/allergies/parasites.htm For example, 25- 30% of the population of the south-eastern USA, mainly children, have whip worm (Trichuris species) and my textbook sources are impeccable: (Schmidt GD, Roberts LS, Foundations of Parasitology, Times Mirror/Mosby College Publishing, St. Louis, 1989, p. 418).
Back To MRSA
MRSA is actually caused by doctors, not immigrants. It’s an inevitable result of overuse of antibiotics (hence the name – methicillin-resistant). It’s uncertain what the true incidence is because it is not at this time a notifiable disease. But the JAMA article worked by extrapolating from earlier 2005 figures and is, in effect, a mere guess. There were 5,287 invasive infections reported that year in the regions studied, which would translate to an estimated 94,360 cases nationally. There were 988 reported deaths among infected people in the study; around 20% and this was simply extrapolated up to 18,650.
IF THE STUDY FIGURES ARE CORRECT—and I emphasize they are only an intelligent guess, which I accept as such— then MRSA is killing more people than AIDS. 988 out of 94,360 cases gives a rate of 6.3 per 100,000. That would translate to 18,650 deaths annually (the researchers admit they don’t even know if MRSA was the cause in all cases). AIDS killed an estimated 17,011 Americans in 2005.
What’s New?
I want to emphasize that Staphylococcus infections have been with humankind since forever. Most infections affect the skin and are mild. This new monster has been created by doctors, not by Nature. For years it has been the feared hospital bug that no-one talks about, because it’s something given to you by doctors and nurses when you enter their environment. A survey earlier this year suggested that MRSA infections, including noninvasive mild forms, affect as many as 5 percent of hospital patients. Nobody wants suing.
The worry now is that MRSA has spread beyond hospitals into the community. It’s fancy appellation is CA-MRSA (community-associated methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus). In recent years, the resistant germ has been spreading through prisons, gyms and school locker rooms, mostly in poor urban neighborhoods.
An especially dangerous form is brought about by inhalation; the bacteria goes straight to the lungs, produces a sudden and violent pneumonia and the victim can die WITHIN HOURS, coughing up frothy blood and unable to breathe.
This is why I likened it to the Black Death (Bubonic Plague or just “The Plague”). The so-called respiratory form of it was so sudden, it often killed the same day as it was inhaled. Remember the kid’s nursery rhyme “Tissue, aTissue, We all Fall down” (dead)? That was said to commemorate respiratory Bubonic plague.
You are just as likely to catch this modern killer in a queue at the supermarket, from some young all-American sports youth or cheerleader, as you are from a foreigner, so please do not start or join any aversion campaign against “dirty immigrants”. It’s ignorant and could cost YOU your life by having you focus on the wrong thing.
So What Should You Do?
I can tell you that the usual trite advice: using chlorox or Lysol and washing your hands is a waste of time. Shocked? You shouldn’t be. Count on “official” recommendations to be stupid, inadequate and/or worthless. They don’t even listen to their own science.
The dangerous MRSA we are facing is inhaled. What does it matter if you have clean hands?
I’ll tell you what really works in part 2, tomorrow.
Meantime, if you want to stay ahead of the curve, get my Wholesome Living Newsletter. You’ll read it there first and it will make more sense. I’m not scared to lay it all bare in the medical profession. Go to: www.wholesomelivingletter.com I’ve just introduced a monthly subscription that costs less than a couple of latte coffees from you-know-where… (starts and ends with S)! !
Cheers, Prof.
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