San Francisco’s Castro district has recently become an epicenter for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), a strain of antibiotic-resistant bacteria responsible for Staph infections. 

The largely gay neighborhood is estimated as having an infection rate of 1 in every 588 residents. Additionally, gay men are found to be 13 times more likely to contract MRSA than the rest of the population. Staph infections are traditionally spread in hospitals or similar facilities, but infection through casual contact is on the rise. 

Last year, New York hospitals reported six cases of what appeared to be sexually related staph infections. Now, a researcher at San Francisco General Hospital reports that 40 percent of patients have outbreaks of the infection on their buttocks and genitals.

MRSA was formerly a rare form of staph bacteria, but is becoming much more prominent in America. Usually manifesting as a small red bump that can look like a pimple or a bug bite, a staph infection can spread quickly if not treated. In advanced cases, it can spread to the lungs or bloodstream causing pneumonia and tissue destruction. The Center for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that 19,000 people die from MRSA every year.