# Thanks, CNN, for making the problem worse. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 17, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053 "2007-10-17T16:48:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/1 "2007-10-17T16:48:37Z")
So [several schools in Virginia closed](http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/conditions/10/16/staph.death.ap/index.html) because a 17-year old boy died of a MRSA infection. I was watching the CNN channel, not initially reading the article, and two things kept pissing me off. 1. The scare-mongering tactics used to make everyone think they are now all going to die of MRSA. Yes, MRSA is dangerous, but it IS treatable with stronger antibiotics (though I’m sure eventually it will mutate into something worse, but the overuse of antibiotics is another rant for another day,) but there is no need to sensationalize this. It was a freak accident. And now they closed _21_ schools to clean them all? Gee, that’s a great idea. I don’t know what chemicals they are using to clean the schools, but I’m guessing it’s not just alcohol and bleach. I’m sure other antimicrobials are being used, and will just further the chance that more strains of bacteria become resistant to them. And if the kid just attended the one school, why are the other 20 being cleaned? There are times when preemptive action is a good idea, and other times when it’s not. MRSA is still rare, and this is just a huge over-reaction on the part of the school district. 2. STOP CALLING IT A VIRUS! Seriously, this dumb-as-shit reporter (not the article, just the TV report) kept saying how MRSA is a deadly _virus_ resistant to antibiotics. Holy shit, lady, get a fucking clue! The amount of people out there who already don’t know the difference between viruses and bacteria, and what medicine can treat each one, is staggering. I’d prefer it if you didn’t contribute to the continued dumbery of America. I wonder how many people are going to ask their doctor for a MRSA vaccine, in the same vein so many ask for antibiotics for their cold/flu. ---
**Author:** ![OneCentStamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/13edae/32.png) [@OneCentStamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OneCentStamp)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/2 "2007-10-17T16:54:51Z")
CNN’s stupid filter is horrible, and anytime there’s some sort of “breaking news” (even if it broke days ago) and they have to come up with knowledgeable people on short notice, it goes from horrible to nonexistent. The gun “experts” they came up with in the wake of the Virginia Tech shootings were laughable. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/3 "2007-10-17T17:01:49Z")
Lemme guess…slow news day? CNN sucks, but at least it ain’t Fox News. ---
**Author:** ![Borborygmi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/borborygmi/32/217_2.png) [@Borborygmi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Borborygmi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/4 "2007-10-17T17:40:55Z")
This comes from the perspective of someone who has heard of MRSA before but is not knowledgeable about it. _NBC Nightly News_ lead off with this MRSA story last night. It was weird… the tone there was also scare-mongering. One student has died! (Which I recognize is scary and tragic, mind you.) But late in the same report they put up statistics saying (I’m going by memory here) 100,000 are infected every year and 16,000 them die. Sooooooo… someone has died from an infection that claims thousands of lives every year. Breaking news! Run for your lives! Huh? ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/5 "2007-10-17T17:45:00Z")
[QUOTE=Borborygmi] Sooooooo… someone has died from an infection that claims thousands of lives every year. Breaking news! Run for your lives! Huh? [/QUOTE] It’s one of those little doublethink-y points that allows you to make a news story out of anything. If it was a disease that killed five people a year, they could say “This incredibly rare disease has struck in Pusville, Maryland!” (Like with that amoeba found in hot lakes that was in the news a week ago.) If it’s a fairly common ailment, the story is more like “This disease is a big killer, it’s everywhere- and it might even be in your school, in Pusville, Maryland!” ---
**Author:** ![JohnBckWLD](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d6d6ee/32.png) [@JohnBckWLD](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnBckWLD)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/6 "2007-10-17T17:49:45Z")
MRSA is a disease that figures show took more American lives in 2005 than AIDS did. CNN’s sloppy reporting aside, I don’t think you can refer to the latest spate of Staphylococcus aureus reports as hype until at least half as many people that know who Natalee Holloway is can tell you what MRSA is. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Kabong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/el_kabong/32/496_2.png) [@El\_Kabong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Kabong)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/7 "2007-10-17T18:11:37Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] (Like with that amoeba found in hot lakes that was in the news a week ago.) If it’s a fairly common ailment, the story is more like “This disease is a big killer, it’s everywhere- and it might even be in your school, in Pusville, Maryland!” [/QUOTE] Well geez, seems like if it’s gonna be anywhere, Pusville would be the place. Anyway, it really would be great if reporters would every once in a while recognize their lack of expertise on a given subject and consult a Subject Matter Expert before going to press. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/8 "2007-10-17T18:23:49Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] Anyway, it really would be great if reporters would every once in a while recognize their lack of expertise on a given subject and consult a Subject Matter Expert before going to press. [/QUOTE] Experts are boring on TV. Unless they’re retired generals. ---
**Author:** ![saoirse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/9 "2007-10-17T18:35:53Z")
[QUOTE=Marley23] Experts are boring on TV. Unless they’re retired generals. [/QUOTE] How about a former Chief of Staph? ---
**Author:** ![mlees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba8739/32.png) [@mlees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mlees)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/10 "2007-10-17T18:48:16Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse] How about a former Chief of Staph? [/QUOTE] _winces_ ---
**Author:** ![ArizonaTeach](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/45deac/32.png) [@ArizonaTeach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ArizonaTeach)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/11 "2007-10-17T18:49:48Z")
[QUOTE=KGS] Lemme guess…slow news day? CNN sucks, but at least it ain’t Fox News. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: Anyone have 3 in the pool? Anyone? Actually, histrionic reporting aside (and I can’t judge on how histrionic until I see an awesome doom-and-gloom title card), I can understand the shuttering of schools. If it’s most likely to spread in locker rooms and gyms, those are shared by students from other schools, and the strain could transfer among schools that way. That’s mentioned in the article, although as he didn’t play sports this current season it would seem that wouldn’t be an issue. It does say that health officials say that MSRA has been spreading through schools. I don’t have any problem with a one-day deep cleaning of the schools, in any case. ---
**Author:** ![KGS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/90ced4/32.png) [@KGS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KGS)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/12 "2007-10-17T19:01:00Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] Anyone have 3 in the pool? Anyone? [/QUOTE] Umm…huh? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/13 "2007-10-17T19:11:46Z")
[QUOTE=ArizonaTeach] I don’t have any problem with a one-day deep cleaning of the schools, in any case. [/QUOTE] The problem I have is that it’s not likely to stop with a one-day deep cleaning of the schools. I believe this will lead to a mandated deep cleaning once a month or once a week. Using, as **bouv** pointed out in the OP, the same fucking anti-microbial cleaners that have helped make sure that if you catch a disease in the hospital it will be a some variety of super-bug. It’s all part-and-parcel of the current mad rush to have anti-bacterial everythings in the house: soap, dishwashing detergent, sponges, dishtowels, baby wipes, snot rags. Hell’s bells, there’s a product on the market that’s nothing but a “Hand sanitizer” It’s meant to be rubbed into one’s hands, and dry in place - having killed some 99.9% of all germs on those hands. We’re no longer just breeding the next super bug in hospitals, people, we’re doing it wholesale, all across the country! ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/14 "2007-10-17T19:30:43Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] We’re no longer just breeding the next super bug in hospitals, people, we’re doing it wholesale, all across the country! [/QUOTE] That’s the part that bothers me. Some day in the future, I’m going to get killed by a superbacterium that walks up to me on the street, steals my wallet in broad daylight and then bites my head off, and it’s all because of these minor OCD idiots who insist on constantly decontaminating themselves like they’re wandering around the jungle primeval in the midst of an ebola outbreak or they’re in the beginning of _Outbreak_\* or something. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/15 "2007-10-17T19:40:26Z")
A story on it just showed up on Yahoo news: [http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071017/ap\_on\_he\_me/staph\_infections](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071017/ap_on_he_me/staph_infections) ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/16 "2007-10-17T19:48:11Z")
[QUOTE=OtakuLoki] The problem I have is that it’s not likely to stop with a one-day deep cleaning of the schools. I believe this will lead to a mandated deep cleaning once a month or once a week. Using, as **bouv** pointed out in the OP, the same fucking anti-microbial cleaners that have helped make sure that if you catch a disease in the hospital it will be a some variety of super-bug. It’s all part-and-parcel of the current mad rush to have anti-bacterial everythings in the house: soap, dishwashing detergent, sponges, dishtowels, baby wipes, snot rags. Hell’s bells, there’s a product on the market that’s nothing but a “Hand sanitizer” It’s meant to be rubbed into one’s hands, and dry in place - having killed some 99.9% of all germs on those hands. We’re no longer just breeding the next super bug in hospitals, people, we’re doing it wholesale, all across the country! [/QUOTE] Someone please correct if I’m wrong, but isn’t the problem antibiotic-resistant bacteria? There’s a huge different between antibiotics and antiseptic soap – I would very surprised to learn that bacteria resistant to antiseptics has evolved. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/17 "2007-10-17T20:10:47Z")
[QUOTE=El\_Kabong] Anyway, it really would be great if reporters would every once in a while recognize their lack of expertise on a given subject and consult a Subject Matter Expert before going to press. [/QUOTE] Over in MPSIMS is my thread about a friend’s daughter who just died from MRSA, with a cite of a local news story about the “superbugs”. The kicker was, the local news called \*\*the parents \*\* to find out more about the bacteria/science of the thing. Her dad shouted at them first about bothering a grieving family, and second about why they aren’t asking Disease Control or a medical SME? “Well, we’re asking you.” They do in fact know a lot about it from three weeks watching her die, but they felt like the news was going to make more of it than it was and raise fears, and they didn’t want to be part of that. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/18 "2007-10-17T20:13:12Z")
I tell you what, I’m not so sure that this is over reacting. > [@](#): > > The infection can be spread by skin-to-skin contact or sharing an item used by an infected person, particularly one with an open wound. If the bacteria can be spread by contact maybe a good scrub down isn’t such a bad idea. How would everyone here react if nothing was done and in month there were several deaths? I know we can play “what if” until the cows come home, but this strikes me as not a bad thing. ---
**Author:** ![Sitnam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Sitnam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sitnam)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/19 "2007-10-17T20:55:46Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] 2) STOP CALLING IT A VIRUS! Seriously, this dumb-as-shit reporter (not the article, just the TV report) kept saying how MRSA is a deadly _virus_ resistant to antibiotics. Holy shit, lady, get a fucking clue! The amount of people out there who already don’t know the difference between viruses and bacteria, and what medicine can treat each one, is staggering. [/QUOTE] They need some kind of Hippocratic Oath for journalists. ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2007, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053/20 "2007-10-17T20:57:27Z")
[QUOTE=adam yax] I tell you what, I’m not so sure that this is over reacting. If the bacteria can be spread by contact maybe a good scrub down isn’t such a bad idea. How would everyone here react if nothing was done and in month there were several deaths? [/QUOTE] But MRSA is often found throughout the environment and even on the skin of healthy, asymptomatic people. It’s found on the skin and nose, but only causes infection if it enters an open wound site. Colonization with MRSA is actually common in many health care facilities, and I’d assume that also schools would be lower, it wouldn’t be unheard of. From [this website](http://mqa.dhs.state.tx.us/qmweb/MRSA.htm), up to 25% of newly admitted LTC (long term care facility) residents are colonized with MRSA while 10% of residents become colonized with MRSA while living in a LTC facility. Shutting down the schools to clean them for a day might not do much good anyways, as I found some websites which indicate that cleaning surfaces doesn’t do much to prevent the spread of MRSA, as that’s not the most common means of transmission. [This website](http://edcp.org/guidelines/mrsa.html) states that: > [@](#): > > Colonization and Infection > [ul][li]Colonization is the presence, growth, and multiplication of the organism in one or more body sites **without observable clinical symptoms or immune reaction**. A ‘carrier’ refers to an individual who is colonized with MRSA. MRSA colonization can occur on the skin surface, wound or pressure ulcer surface, in the sputum, or in the urine. One of the most common sites of colonization in both HCWs and residents is the anterior nares. While personnel may become colonized with MRSA, **they rarely develop infections with the organism**.[/li][li]MRSA infection is a condition whereby the bacteria has invaded a body site, is multiplying in tissue, and is causing clinical manifestations of disease, such as fever, suppurative wound, pneumonia or other respiratory illness or symptoms, or other signs of inflammation (warmth, redness, swelling). Infection is confirmed by positive cultures from sites such as blood, urine, sputum, or wound. [/ul][/li] > Reservoirs of MRSA > [ul][li]Colonized and infected residents serve as the major reservoir of MRSA in long term care facilities. **Contaminated environmental surfaces have not been shown to play a significant role during outbreaks in long term care facilities**. Asymptomatic colonization of residents’ noses with MRSA is common in long term care facilities. Point prevalence studies have found that 23% - 35% of residents in Veterans’ Affairs affiliated units may become colonized over a period of one to two years. In the few prevalence surveys performed in freestanding long term care facilities located in areas where MRSA is common, 9% - 12% of residents were colonized. MRSA colonization may disappear with treatment and reappear weeks or months later.[/ul][/li] > Transmission of MRSA > [ul][li] **The main mode of transmission of MRSA is person to person via hands** , usually of HCWs. Colonization of hands of personnel may be either transient, such as a single day, or of longer duration, such as several weeks. Colonization of the HCW may occur if proper handwashing and barriers (such as gowns and gloves) are not used appropriately.[\*]MRSA may be aerosolized in the droplet nuclei from a coughing resident or from a ventilator exhaust port of an intubated resident who has MRSA in his or her sputum. The organism may also be aerosolized during the irrigation of a wound containing MRSA. However, the role of aerosolization in the transmission of MRSA is not known. **Although MRSA has been isolated from environmental surfaces, transmission to residents is thought to be minimal, except in burn units**.[/ul][/li] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-cnn-for-making-the-problem-worse/423053.md?page=2)