Flesh-Eating, Sexually-Transmitted Bacteria Hit San Francisco and Boston

Your next kiss could turn into an infection that eats your lips off. San Francisco and Boston are reporting outbreaks of drug-resistant staph bacteria that cannot be stopped with any antibiotics currently being used to fight them. When the bacteria come into contact with your skin, they can burrow into tiny cuts and create infections so severe that it's as if the microbes are eating your flesh. The staph is transmitted by skin-to-skin contact, especially sexual contact. Right now, it's hitting mostly gay communities but researchers warn it's about to jump into the mainstream population.

A report from the medical center at UC San Francisco says:




The best defense may be to scrub yourself down with hot water and soap before any bacteria can take hold.

Sexually-active gay men vulnerable to new bacteria [UCSF]