Comments on: Drug Resistant Staph Infection May Be An Epidemic in Black Chicago

By: Kenyon Farrow

Kenyon Farrow — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:31:24 +0000

I got it from here:http://www.scharfphoto.com/fine_art_prints/archives/199812-026-Staph-Bacteria.jpg

By: Linc Cohen

Linc Cohen — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 20:16:27 +0000

Do you know where I can get a high-res version of this image –
199812-026-Staph-Bacteria.jpg
– which you had on your blog entry of 5/29/07?

I am editor of a union newspaper that goes to public employees in prisons, jails, mental health centers, etc. We arewilling to pay for it.

Thanks,
Linc Cohen

By: Colleen

Colleen — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:03:53 +0000

Kenyon,
I’ve been handling a lawsuit where MRSA is involved and have learned quite a bit from the experts retained in that case. I think I have some helpful articles on the topic if you are interested in learning more.

By: John Miller

John Miller — Mon, 04 Jun 2007 17:36:59 +0000

I hate the fact that ignorant people are fostering the belief that MRSA is mostly found in low income areas. The fact is that the bacteria are everywhere and many people carry it in their bodies and are able to resist the complications. I personally have TWO strains of MRSA. I got the first one which looked like “spider bites” after visiting a person in a hospital. I knew nothing about MRSA. I thought I had spider bites. Those took 8 months to recede. Then, the same person I visited, came to my home in 2006 and did NOT tell me he had MRSA in a large open wound on his back…He thanked me for doing some work for his wife. He shook my hand. You know the rest of the story…two days later, my face was full of huge painful red swellings full of big boils. The man is not poor. He contracted MRSA at the hospital. The bacteria are everywhere now…your local grocery store, shared athletic equipment, RICH AND POOR PEOPLE ALIKE are suffering with MRSA. So let’s stop the lies about “poor people and skid row”. Hospital wards are infected with MRSA. Here is how to make the correct solution to kill MRSA bacteria on surfaces: 1/3 hydrogen peroxide (the 3% kind you buy at the pharmacy) 2/3 water. Mix. Add a bit of dry laundry detergent and shake. USE rubber gloves when applying. Put on surface. Let stand a couple of minutes. Rinse off with clean water. THIS will kill MRSA bacteria. Most commercial so-called “antibacterial” products do NOT kill MRSA bacteria. In fact, the bacteria can actually LIVE in most of those products because the solutions are not alkaline enough to kill these resistant bacteria. If you would like to know how I minimize my own MRSA symptoms using all natural foods and products which are cheap and available anywhere, please write to me. I charge $4 for the information as it is very long and detailed. Let us STOP the racist accusations about what is truly an EQUAL OPPORTUNITY disease which has caused the deaths of RICH and POOR, of all colors and nationalities. Get past the racist paranoia. I am white with postgrad degrees. I try to teach everyone how to make their bodies resist these new horrible bacteria. My skin is clear now and my energy has returned. There is no purpose to racial slurs. People of all income brackets and colors and religions need to know how to protect themselves from MRSA. I teach what I have learned the very hard way, through personal experience, trial and error.

By: Kenyon Farrow

Kenyon Farrow — Wed, 30 May 2007 16:54:50 +0000

Sherman and Maryn -

Thanks for commenting. I didn’t think anyone was gonna read this post, but I find myself becoming more interested in health issues– especially in how disease risk (espcially STI/HIV) is communicated to racialized and gendered populations.

I do think something about the phrase “community” has come to connote poor urban and (mostly) black communities. It is the new way to refer to black people without saying “black” or “urban.” I don’t think language phenomenon is about public health, but it is a larger trend in the way people are using the phrase “in the community” in our society. I think that factor may mean that people will interpret that to connote “black-associated” MRSA.

I am not sure if a mythology will develop around it–i am even uncomfrotable with saying mythology, it’s not as though black people don’t have legitimate historical and contemporary evidence for racism in public health and medicine. But in short, yes. People may suspect the reasons that this infection is prevalent in black communities.

By: maryn

maryn — Wed, 30 May 2007 16:26:01 +0000

That’s a really interesting idea, that members of a group that uses the word “community” as a signifier for itself (black community, gay community) would interpret the “community” in CA-MRSA as referring to them – as opposed to the public health meaning of “all the places that are outside the hospital.”

Obviously something public health types never thought of, and a lesson in the dangers of official language. D’you think it’s likely “community-associated” will be interpreted as stigmatizing? And then what – would a mythology develop around it, similar to rumors of AIDS being aimed at the black community?

By: Sherman

Sherman — Wed, 30 May 2007 02:25:26 +0000

No doubt that the racializing (and consequential stigmatizing) of the disease dampens any public health measures for prevention or education about the infections…

First time posting after hearing about your blog. Keep it up! Looking forward to your thoughts on “Medical Apartheid” after you finish reading it.