In article <2sncu3INN7hq at no-names.nerdc.ufl.edu>, kimi at pine.circa.ufl.edu
("Kimmy Bloom") wrote:
> Hello, Netters; wanted to run an unnerving news spot by you all: I've heard (second-hand, so I didn't catch the spot myself) of a drug-resistant strep supposedly in England, dissolves muscle and fat, only way to stop it is amputation, several people dead.
Sorry, guys - there are lies, damn lies, and what they print in the
tabloids. Yes, some people have contracted necrotising fasciitis
subsequent to Strep A infections and a few have died. Not more than would
be expected from the normal incidence; the tabloids attention only being
drawn by a cluster of cases in Gloucester. These cases were unrelated.
Moreover, not all those cited as dying from this condition were in fact
known to have had Strep A. Although the press were free with the term
"superbug", the bacterium is not drug-resistant (how could those editors
resist headlines like "Superbug ate my face"?).
paul
--
Paul J Travers phone : +44-(0)71-631-6262 (office)
ICRF Structural Biology Unit " " " 6268 (lab)
Birkbeck College fax : +44-(0)71-436-8918
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London WC1E 7HX email : p_travers at icrf.icnet.uk
England or : paul at histo.cryst.bbk.ac.uk
