Information War: Biological Division
Ah, the casual, comfortable flip-flop: A symbol of summertime, an emblem of relaxation – and a harbinger of death?
OK, well, that may be overstating it a little bit – but not by too terribly much, health experts say.
. . .
Most disturbing of all, the flip-flops provided shelter to the potentially lethal germ Staphylococcus aureus. That’s serious, said Dr. Philip M. Tierno Jr., director of clinical microbiology and immunology at New York University’s Langone Medical Center. He said the presence of this germ can be especially problematic if you have an open cut or blister on your foot, or if you handle your flip-flops a lot with your hands.
“That particular organism can give you a serious infection like a boil, or more serious, it could possess toxins,” Tierno told TODAY. “They can make you very sick or kill you.”
- Can your flip-flops kill you?
by Laura T. Coffey for MSN.com
Wait, the deadly Staphylococcus aureus? Last I heard, it was common: (and while there’s no reason to disbelieve that a common bacterium can kill, there’s no reason to start quoting experts and pretending that the presence of the organism is newsworthy, either)
Staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of staph infections. It is a spherical bacterium, frequently part of the skin flora found in the nose and on skin. About 20% of the population are long-term carriers of S. aureus.
- Staphylococcus aureus at Wikipedia
I can scarcely find words for how disgusted I am with this disinformation campaign – apparently the old adage is true: “If all you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail” (and if all you have is a two-bit degree in journalism, the only tool in your arsenal must be scare tactics)
Seriously, how stupid does Laura T. Coffey think her readership is? Is she equally mentally deficient?
Protect yourself from disinformation and the terrified mob, not the latest media scare.
