Super Bug Rages Through Chicago

Paying attention to poor people's health is not just a worthy humanitarian goal, it could also save your own life or that of someone you love. Judith Graham has a chilling story in the Chicago Tribune about how a drug-resistant skin rash is spreading rapidly through the poorest parts of Chicago. Caused by the methicillin-resistant staph aureus (MRSA) bacteria, the rash is potentially fatal--particularly if it spreads into the lungs.

The focus of Graham's piece is on the Cook County Jail, but she could have easily included the larger problems in Cook County's public hospitals and clinics. Although this deadly bacterium seems to be targeting poor neighborhoods, MRSA is increasingly being found in a lot of other wealthier folk, as I reported in an article for TIME last year.

Sure hope Graham isn't one of the journalists being cut at the Trib.