SAN FRANCISCO, CA  --  A potentially deadly bacteria which is highly resistant to drugs has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said Monday.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles, Reuters reports.

According to a report published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers found that sexually active gay men in San Francisco are 13 times more likely to be infected than their heterosexual neighbors.

"Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable," said Binh Diep, who led the research at the University of California, San Francisco. "That's why we're trying to spread the message of prevention."

"We think that [the bacteria] is spread through sexual activity," Diep said.

The superbug can cause life-threatening and disfiguring infections and killed about 19,000 Americans in 2005, most of them in hospitals. It can often only be treated with expensive, intravenous antibiotics.

Incidence of MRSA is rising along with the resurgence of syphilis, rectal gonorrhea, and new HIV infections partly because of an increase in risky behaviors, such as illicit drug use and having sex that abrades the skin.

"Your likelihood of contracting each of these diseases increases with the number of sexual partners that you have," Diep said. "The same can probably be said for MRSA."

Staph infections often look like raised red dots on the skin. Left untreated, the areas can swell and fill with pus.

The best way to avoid infection is by washing the hands or genitals with soap and water, Diep said.

Last update: 01-15-2008 20:32