Gay men at greater risk from superbug

Washington - Sexually active gay men are at much greater risk than heterosexuals of infection from a highly virulent bacteria that has proven resistant to most antibiotics, according to a new study released this week.

The research by the University of California at San Francisco found that the highly-drug resistant "superbug" MRSA bacteria - an acronym for methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus bacteria - can be transmitted readily through homosexual intercourse, putting gay men at increased risk.

Methicillin is a widely-used penicillin-related antibiotic.

"These multi-drug resistant infections often affect gay men at body sites in which skin-to-skin contact occurs during sexual activities," says Binh Diep, of the San Francisco General Hospital Medical Centre and lead author of the report appearing in the online edition the Annals of Internal Medicine.

The study is to appear in the print edition of the medical journal next month.

A review of medical records from outpatient clinics in San Francisco found that sexually active gay men in San Francisco are about 13 times more likely to be infected than the general population.

Extrapolating from medical records, researchers estimate that about one in 588 people living in San Francisco's Castro district - a neighbourhood with the highest number of gay residents of any community in the United States - is infected with the multi-drug resistant MRSA bacteria.

The MRSA bacteria appears to be transmitted most easily through intimate sexual contact, but also can spread through casual skin-to-skin contact or contact with contaminated surfaces.

Until recently, MRSA bacteria were confined to hospitals, where extensive use of antibiotics has prompted highly-resistant bacteria strains to evolve.

But in recent months, scientists have observed a growing number of cases of the illness surfacing outside the hospital setting, causing a number of deaths and serious illnesses.