Okay, you probably knew that getting arrested in Chicago--or anyplace, and just about any large city in particular--is not likely to benefit you, or for that matter unless you are a rapist or serial killer or the like, society as a whole or anybody who doesn't make a living from the incarceration-industrial complex.
But did you know the Cook County Jail is a biological weapons production facility? Close enough as might as well be anyhow:
Cook County Jail -- a hot spot for the bacteria, known as MRSA -- appears to be contributing to the infectious menace, as hundreds of inmates cycle in and out of the facility daily.
WTF
is MRSA, you inquire?
MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus, a potentially virulent bacteria that doesn't respond to several antibiotics used to treat common staph infections.
People struck by the bug frequently develop painful skin boils or abscesses and, in rare circumstances, deadly pneumonias, blood infections and other life-threatening conditions.
You could take steps to protect yourself by abandoning that life of crime you've been having so much fun with, were it not that this would involve avoiding Driving (or Walking Suspiciously for that matter) While Brown, AND having contact with anyone else who does those things:
When results were analyzed over time, a stark pattern became evident: the incidence of community-associated MRSA infections climbed dramatically, from 24 cases per 100,000 people in 2000 to 164.2 cases per 100,000 in 2005.
By contrast, data from three major U.S. cities available to date, published in 2005 in the New England Journal of Medicine, uncovered community-associated MRSA rates of 18 to 26 cases per 100,000.
There are more questions than answers about the MRSA strain that's dominant in Chicago, known as USA 300.
"It's unknown why USA 300 is so good at spreading in communities or where it comes from or even how it's transmitted," Hota said. Researchers think the primary mode of transmission is person-to-person contact. More than 2 million people are thought to carry MRSA in their noses without knowing it. Also, the bacteria appear able to live on surfaces such as counter-tops for days if not weeks.
Scientists speculate that an important reservoir of infection might be County Jail, an overcrowded, unsanitary environment where MRSA can easily flourish. The bacteria can be passed between inmates on mattresses, on towels and soap -- which are often shared -- or through other means, experts said.
Go read the rest of the Trib story if you're not depressed enough yet. Of course if you don't live in Chicago you have nothing to worry about...
right.
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Chicken anyone?
You tell me. I live in Chicago. Between getting our ass beat by cops; we can’t get a fair trial; fabricated evidence; racial profiling; discriminatory laws . . . Please tell me what we (Black folk ,Colored Folk, Poor Folk) are supposed to do? This is every day for us. All we hear is “they” are criminals and need to be punished. White folk need to speak up. Iraq, the corporate scandals, the corruption, all have their root in the blind eye white America has turned to racism that defines their daily lives. People are dying. I’m telling you we are reaching a boiling point. I’m here every day in Englewood. I see them without jobs, healthcare, jobs and they are fast losing hope. At best we are thirty percent of the population. We can’t do it alone. When they are done with us they are coming for you. Understand that. They are going to beat your children like Niggers, farm them out to die, work them to death in wal-mart and it will be your fault. Not you xan or crew. Just the general disaffected bourgeois community in America
Whoa, hold on a minute
Yes, absolutely MRSA is a big deal -- in tabloid circles it's known as the "flesh-eating bacteria" -- but there are other bugs that are worse, and MRSA is treatable.
MRSA is a forerunner of superbugs, though, and many are already NOT treatable.
Community Acquired MRSA need not come from a stretch in county jail; there are (relatively simple and comparatively cheap!) ways of avoiding the bacteria.
Handwashing and not sharing towels are the first two we talk about in Texas, where the bacterium isn't as feared in jails as it is in athletic locker rooms. About 2/3 of the high school and college athletes in the state are at risk.
Disinfecting equipment and washing linens (practice jerseys, towels, etc) in hot water with bleach -- and using Lysol or a dilute bleach solution for cleaning 'hard' surfaces (plastic, metal, etc) in athletics facilities has proven effective. A couple of county jails in Texas have had to go so far as to institute mandatory prisoner showers and daily changes of issue linens (blanket, towel, washcloth, jumpsuit) to contain this bug, but it can be done.
In jails the big risks are sharing items, not washing hands with soap and hot water, and improperly cleaned surfaces. This stuff CAN, and should be, controlled; if Cook County Jail is a hotbed of infection, it's because somebody's either lying about doing the janitorial work, or (and this would be a surprise because ...?) skimming off the money for proper cleaning supplies and procedures.
We can admit that we’re killers … but we’re not going to kill today. That’s all it takes! ~ Captain James T. Kirk, Stardate 3193.0
1 John 4:18
Sarah, did you read the link?
This is not just "regular" MRSA but a particular strain that appears to have originated in, or at least taken particular hold in, Chicago called USA 300. Your expertise in the matter greatly exceeds mine, but just from the statistics given the problem here is not a greater degree if virulence but a tremendously higher rate of communicability.
Yeah, as Xenophon attests and anybody who has ever watched "The Blues Brothers" is at least vaguely aware, the Chicago justice system is neither particularly just nor overly systematized. Your speculation re: deficiencies in execution of hygiene standards is almost certainly correct. However I doubt that the standards are all that much higher in any jail anywhere else either. And the county jail is just the hub; this shit spreads as fast in hospitals where presumably standards of cleanliness are as high as it is practicable to hope for in any public setting.
This ties in with something I've been wondering about for awhile: Should we be campaigning for the elimination, abolition and outlawing of "antibacterial" soaps and such for home use? I never understood the logic of that shit from the beginning. "Elilminates 99% of germs" just says to me that it might as well be phrased "Provides a perfect environment as well as forced evolution for the remaining 1% of the meanest bastard bugs out there."
Just wondering if, given how ubiquitous the (antibacterial) stuff is anymore, if it is worth making an effort as individuals to avoid use of these products. I try to use plain dish soap for most casual cleanups but admit I have one bottle of AB hand soap I do use in cases of cuts or possible contact with poison ivy or other toxic plants. Your thoughts on the matter?