Talk about bad news….This is the first I have heard of MRSA on beaches… In fact when I think of MRSA I think of hospitals and that it is a good idea to stay out of hospitals for that reason.

“Staphylococcus aureus is a common bug that can cause serious infections. An antibiotic-resistant strain, called MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus), has increased dramatically in recent years. It typically spreads in hospitals. But it's also found in healthy people in the community. It spreads from skin-to-skin contact with someone who is infected, or by touching surfaces contaminated with the germ.
Little is known about places in the environment where MRSA can hide. A study presented today, however, is the first to show that public beaches may be reservoirs for the bug. Staph was isolated in marine water and in intertidal beach sand in nine of 10 public beaches in Washington state, and half of the strains were MRSA, according to the study from researchers at the University of Washington. When examined, those strains appeared to be the type that spreads in hospitals rather than community-acquired MRSA…”  LA Times

  Infectious Superbug Invades Beaches

By Miriam Falco
CNN Medical News Managing Editor

“The U.S. Department of Agriculture symbolically slapped the news media on the hand Thursday for perpetuating the term “swine” flu in reports about the new H1N1 strain of influenza that’s spreading across the world.

In a written statement and during two telebriefings, the USDA reminded reporters that since last Spring they have “consistently asked that the media stop calling this ‘novel’ pandemic virus ‘swine flu.’”

So what’s the big deal? Health officials say the H1N1 virus more closely resembles the pandemic Spanish flu of 1918 than a swine flu. The USDA says struggling pork farmers are being hurt in a big way when the virus is called “swine flu.” USDA officials stress that “ you cannot get infected with 2009 pandemic virus from eating pork or pork products.”

“Each time the media uses the phrase ‘swine flu’ a hog farmer, their workers and their families suffer,” says USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack in a statement posted on the USDA Web site. “It is simply not fair or correct to associate the 2009 pandemic H1N1 influenza with hogs, an animal that does not play a role in the ongoing transmission of the pandemic strain.”

USDA officials point out that China is not importing U.S. pork because of the erroneous belief that eating pork is tied to the spread of this new type of flu…”

  CNN has a video story on a bare bottom statue causing controversy in one small Colorado town.  Here is the video.

  I think it is great.  If I lived in the area I would go and have my photo taken standing next to it.  If I could get away with it I would get nude and stand right next to it.  I think it would be a great photo as long as I did not end up in jail.

“ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- An advisory panel is recommending a major step up in protection for health workers dealing with patients suspected or confirmed to have H1N1 influenza.

The Institute of Medicine said Thursday, in recommendations requested by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said loose paper masks are inadequate because the workers could still breathe in the virus.

Instead, health workers should switch to N95 respirators that form an airtight seal around the nose and mouth.

If properly fitted and worn correctly, N95 respirators filter out at least 95 percent of particles as small as 0.3 micrometers, which is smaller than influenza viruses, the report notes…”