With increasing alarm, I have been reading about the bacteria being spread by men who repeatedly engage in passionate acts, including those that cause abrasions, such as rug burns.

According to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the bacteria, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, affects men who had "frequent contact" and "often did not shower before using communal whirlpools." These men also consumed "10 times the number of antimicrobial prescriptions dispensed to the general public."

The venerable journal warned that continued use of virus-fighting drugs by these men, "combined with other factors such as compromised skin, close skin-to-skin contact, [and] contaminated environment," was brewing "the right conditions for efficient transmission" of the bacteria.

According to this article @ Salon.com, the problem is more likely to spread to the "general population" from football players than gay men.