How do other countries deal with the hospital superbug MRSA?

Question

Recently I saw a news report from a hospital in Afghanistan; they obviously had a lot of problems but hospital superbugs did not seem to be one of them - are these bugs our own invention or are they a problem in other countries?

Answer 1

I am a nurse from the UK, we screen every person which walks through the door for mrsa, if the results come back positive then we decolonize them, which involves antibiotics, 5 days been washed in aquasept which kills mrsa off of the skin, and use batrobam nasal cream as most people have mrsa in their nose as it's a dry warm place, after the 5 days we give the patient a rest for 2 days then retest, if it's positive again, we restart the program, 1 in 3 people are carriers of mrsa so the visitors who come in and not wash their hands, and sit on the beds are actually spreading it to patients, also i forgot to mention patients with airborne mrsa (sputum, nasal, etc) will be placed in a side-room on their own, if they have it in a wound and it can be covered then it's fine, also when a patient is discharged who has mrsa the room or area they we're in gets deep clean, putting up new cutains, floors, walls, bed washed

Answer 2

I don't actually know the answer to this question, I have only worked in US and Israeli hospitals, and they deal with MRSA the same way, but there are a few misconceptions in the question itself that I would like to clear up.
First off, MRSA is not really a "superbug", and it's not only a problem in hospitals. It is problematic in that it's resistant to many antibiotics and is more common hospital than community acquired flora, but it is not the case that it cannot be treated, and it is also not the case that it exists only in hospitals.
It's existance is a direct result of the practice of medicine, however. Basically, bacteria and the medical community (and, more broadly, the human race) are in a constant arms race. Bacteria are constantly evolving to become more resistant to the antibiotics that we use and we are constantly trying to adapt to their resistances and sensitivities and to come up with new antibiotics against which they have no defense. In a world with no antibiotics, there would be no selective pressure for antibiotic resistance and no MRSA (of course, there would be no treatment for any type of staph either, which would be a bit of a problem).
It follows then that you will find the most MRSA (and other resistant strains of staph and other bacteria) where the most antibiotics are used, and I don't know if the US is number 1 in that category, but we certainly rank highly (in both necessary and unnecessary use, but that's another subject), but resistant species are a problem wherever there is widespread use of antibiotics, which is basically any country that gives decent health care to a majority of it's citizens (Afganistan is probably not in this category).
Now we can, and do, treat MRSA, whether it's hospital or community acquired, there are antibiotics that work on it, and the way we treat it is the same way it's treated in the only other country I'm familiar with, Israel - pretty much you just find the drugs it's sensitive to and use those, isolate the patient, and hope for the best.
So yes, MRSA is a result of mankind's actions, and no, it's not only a problem here, though it probably is more of one than in many other countries.

Answer 3

Anyone who says that MRSA is hadeled the same way in every hospital or instaution, has no idea what they speak of.

In most cases hospitals and staff FAIL in keeping MRSA as bay. I have seen it go from 1 person to, infecting a 165bed facility and most of the staff. Why?? Greed and the fact the hospital did not want to do what was right, thats expensive(not really, just short sited to not see the future costs)!

Dont want a MRSA infection or other super bug?? Dont go to any N.American hospital.

Answer 4

All i know is when my wife was in the ICU last year i looked up at the ceiling to find blood splatters on it (not hers) and looking at the rail of her bed there was also blood from another patient.

When she was moved to a solitary room the cleaner came in and cleaned the toilet with a cloth and then without washing it cleaned the taps and sink in the room and when it came to floor all items must have been stuck down as the mop just went around all items even her slippers.

Cleaning is the main reason but there are also other reasons. I do wonder how many Private hospitals in this country actually get the outbreak compared to NHS ones.

They have found recently that bugs cant survive on copper, no wonder the smart victorians used it on the door handles in their hospitals!

Answer 5

Prevention:
When hospital (ICU) outbreaks of MRSA infections occur, isolation and barrier protection should be implemented. Isolation precautions should also be implemented when a multidrug-resistant organism is isolated.
Hand washing or use of alcohol or other disinfecting hand gels by health care workers between contacts with patients prevents transmission of these and other nosocomial bacteria. This is particularly true in ICUs.
Prior antibiotic administration is a major factor for colonization and secondary infections with these multiple-antibiotic–resistant organisms. Clinicians are well advised to avoid unnecessary administration of antimicrobial agents or to avoid unnecessary prolonged administration. For surgical prophylaxis, administration of antibiotics for longer than 24 hours rarely is justifiable.
Education programs for physicians and hospital personnel regarding risk reduction for transmission of Enterobacter species and other nosocomial pathogens should be implemented in every hospital. This is usually the responsibility of the infection control team.

Answer 6

Unfortunately this is a symptom of the failing NHS standards that Blair and Brown tell us are in our imaginations. Cleaning standards in hospitals are crap.........I know I work in one!

The cleaners are usually low paid immigrant workers, speaking little or no English and unfortuantely have no concept of the standards that are required.

Every ward should have a steam cleaner and it should be used a minimum of twice a day. Unfortunately there is also the issue of hospital visitors that do not, will not and will never use the cleaning gels provided.

I can't speak for every hospital but it does seem to be pretty much the case in most.

Answer 7

Hospitals in other countries, like Switzerland, screen all patients who come through the door for "super-bug" infections of all types. If someone is found to have one of these bugs, they are placed in isolation or, at least, away from non-infected persons and are treated for what they have. In this country, the hospitals don't screen people and, in my experience, don't follow infection control procedures as they should be doing.

Answer 8

I don`t know about other countries, but we here in the USA, seem to be having an outbreak of staph infections in people hospitalized. Apparently faulty methods of sterilizing instruments and improper hand washing coupled with open wounds and infected visitors are at fault. Our hospitals need to step up a more sterile environment.

Answer 9

The problem is education, kids are not taught about bugs and hygiene, so they grow up without a clue, and some land up as cleaners who do not have any idea about contamination.
I have no doubt that you have seen young mothers letting kids roll about on shop floors, picking up goodness knows what on their sticky fingers, they don`t consider that someone has probably walked dog feaces into the place. Chidren allowed to stand on seats with dirty shoes, someone sits on the seat, then sits on a hospital bed. Someone wipes their @rse, fails to wash their hands, grabs the door handle, and then someone else gets contaminated. It`s no wonder MRSA is so rampant.

Answer 10

One of the problems is the hospitals deal with ill people. If it wasn't for them having the pestilence in the first place, they would not spread it around.

I think the Netherlands have a record of preventing the transmission of contagious diseases within hospital including drug resistant bacteria.

In Afghanistan they probably do not test for it.