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Outbreak of 'nightmare superbug' causing a stir |
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Jen147
Moderator Joined: March 23 2013 Status: Offline Points: 17144 |
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Posted: January 09 2014 at 3:51pm |
Outbreak of 'nightmare superbug' causing a stir
An outbreak in Illinois of what authorities have dubbed a nightmare bacteria is stirring up serious concern. Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) is a rare strain of bacteria with a fatality rate of almost 50 percent. It's made up of an enzyme that breaks down antibiotics making it very difficult to treat. Between 2009 and 2013, fewer than 100 cases of the super germ were reportedly seen. Last year the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reported 44 cases traced to a hospital in Chicago. A doctor from the national institute of health told ABC-affiliated television station WHOI that most cases are found in hospitals and nursing homes and can travel from patient to patient. "It's an extremely potentially dangerous problem but we have a window of opportunity to contain it." This is the largest outbreak on record of a bacteria with such a high fatality rate. Illinois officials announced last week that a task force was being formed to deal with the potential spread of the germ. http://www.aol.com/article/2014/01/09/outbreak-of-nightmare-superbug-causing-a-stir/20804659/?icid=maing-grid7%7Ccompaq-desktop%7Cdl10%7Csec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D428644 |
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jacksdad
Executive Admin Joined: September 08 2007 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 47251 |
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Jen - it's scary how many of these superbugs are almost exclusively nosocomial. I work in healthcare and we see a lot of MRSA now, but there are far worse ones out there like the one you mentioned. We also have VRE, and some strains have a mortality rate of 60-70% if they're not caught early. If you're in hospital for anything, make sure you keep your stay to a minimum because that's where these bugs unfortunately live.
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Elver
Valued Member Joined: June 14 2008 Status: Offline Points: 7778 |
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I'd still like to know how hospitals and nursing homes, which are supposed to be clean, aren't!
Could it have something to do with carpet vs. tile floors? Could it have to do with material draperies rather than metal blinds? Could it have to do with the fact that they aren't cleaning hospitals like they used to or that hygiene isn't as important to doctors and nurses? When I was little they wouldn't let kids into the hospital to visit, but now the grubby little boogers are let in all the time. Well, these are only my assumptions. I'd like to know if anyone can enlighten me. So, why do these bugs "LIVE" in hospitals? Why don't they clean and try to keep the buglets at bay? Aren't there people who take cultures of surfaces in hospitals to see if they're cleaning properly? |
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visitor
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When I worked in housekeeping in a small hospital I seen first hand how diseases got spread and most of it was through the nurses. I wrote up a nurse because she went into an isolation room dragging a blood pressure monitor, took the patients vitals (without gloves), places the pencil in her pocket, walked out of the room with THE SAME BLOOD PRESSURE MONITOR, and took it into another patients room and did the same thing. Unfortunately, the patient in the isolation room had C-Diff and within that week 5 patients contracted it. It was the same with other things there. We housekeepers washed constantly and gloved so much that we were having to over-order gloves to keep in stock but the nursing staff were very lax in what they were doing.
Now that I've had that experience, any time we have to be in the hospital I find myself watching the hospital staff and even have to tell them to wash and glove before touching me or my family (it embarrasses them but I'd rather be safe than sorry) So to answer your question I think it's not whether or not the hospital is being properly cleaned, it's the nurses and doctors that are carrying the bacteria around with them from room to room. |
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carbon20
Moderator Joined: April 08 2006 Location: West Australia Status: Offline Points: 65816 |
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hospitals have for years relied on antibiotics to make up for poor hygiene...........
did you see my post in G/discussion about the end of Antibiotics?? |
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