It is true that a particular strain of MRSA (USA300) has been seen among gay men in Boston and San Francisco. However, like other types of MRSA, that strain is not limited to gay men. It has also been seen in athletes, military recruits, and heterosexual couples.

As noted in my blog item, I think that the cases of USA300 MRSA in gay men deserve our attention. But I believe that much of the original press coverage was sensationalistic, misleading, and potentially stigmatizing for gay men.

What gay men - and everyone else, for that matter - most need to know about MRSA are: what it is, the ways it is passed from one person to another, ways to prevent the spread, and what can be done when a person gets a MRSA infection.

Regarding your final questions about HIV in gay men and whether HIV might be considered a “gay disease”:

It is true that early in the epidemic gay men had - and continue to have - relatively high rates of HIV infection. It is also true that unprotected anal intercourse is a high-risk behavior for transmitting HIV.

That being said, it would be a mistake to consider HIV infection to be a “gay disease.” Here’s why:
- Both straight and gay people may engage in unprotected anal intercourse.
- There are also other high-risk behaviors, such as unprotected vaginal sex and sharing drug needles and works, that have nothing to do with being gay.
- HIV affects persons of every sexual orientation, gender, race, ethnicity, and nationality.

Seeing HIV as a “gay disease” has some important negative consequences. It can lead people to stigmatize gay men or blame them for being “the cause” of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It can also lead people who aren’t gay to assume that “it can’t happen to me” and engage in behaviors that place them at risk for HIV infection.

So A calls up B
“You’ve got to come over.”

B says
“I can’t I’m going over to C’s.”

A cries
“You’ve got to come over now! It’s beginning to gnaw at me!”

Now I’m more confused than ever. Is there or isn’t there a particular strain of MRSA that is circulating in the Boston and San Francisco gay community? I see complaints about the sensationalism, but not its veracity.

Michael Shankle is quoted “It is really reminiscent of the demonizing qualities of the HIV/AIDS epidemics. In the early years of the epidemic there was this idea that this is somehow a gay men’s or gay sex kind of disease.”

Isn’t it? Wasn’t (unprotected) anal intercourse an important vector? Didn’t AIDS hit gay men (and hemophiliacs) particularly hard?

The info from the Mass Dept. of Public Health is quite re-assuring,
and most necessary information to disseminate in the face of what
you’ve identified as blatant sensationalism.