• Liz
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    07 months ago

    He died from a MRSA infection, which can and does kill people at any stage of life. That shit is everywhere, but whether you get sick or not is kinda a crap shoot.

      • @deranger@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        I’d like one example where MRSA has been used for bioterrorism. Never heard of it when I was a medical lab tech in the military, nor as a medical lab scientist later in my life. Bioterrorism is extremely rare, and MRSA is a poor choice for a biological weapon.

        E. coli O157:H7 would be a better choice, or Vibrio, or really any of the enteric pathogens introduced to food or water supplies.

        • Uriel238 [all pronouns]
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          07 months ago

          Well, the 1984 bioterror attack associated with the Rajneeshee was done with salmonella. The question this raises is if there are any advantages to cultivating it as an assassin’s weapon.

          I’m not saying I know it is, only that the two associated deaths make for a pretty amazing coincidence.

          • @deranger@sh.itjust.works
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            07 months ago

            Salmonella is not MRSA (methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus). The point I was trying to make is Staph isn’t a good bioterrorism agent. It doesn’t spread like weaponized anthrax, it’s not particularly deadly, and it can’t be spread by food/water like the enteric pathogens. It’s just not suitable or we’d have researched the fuck out of it at USAMRIID.

    • @just_another_person@lemmy.world
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      07 months ago

      MRSA is not that common. Most people get it from contact in medical facilities, but some people (very few) do carry it around.

      When someone contracts it and becomes seriously ill, it usually means they weren’t a carrier to begin with, or had an immunodeficiency that allowed the pathogen to overtake an equilibrium with their immune system. They do hardcore contact tracing if someone actually dies from it, and if nobody around this guy had it…quite suspicious. That’s all I’m saying.

      • @Halcyon@discuss.tchncs.de
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        7 months ago

        He was sick in hospital with pneumonia, before he got MRSA though. In hospitals there’s a higher chance to catch MRSA, especially if someone is already weakened by a severe lung infection.

        • fatboy93
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          07 months ago

          Absolutely, my toddler had MRSA within a few days after he was born and its most likely due to some contamination or something to the effect.

          Hospitals are a severe breeding grounds for resistant bacterial strains via sewage.