Why does Britain have so many cases of?

Question

MRSA? I heard that other countries like Belgium have no recorded cases.

Answer 1

This website is a very informative one regarding mrsa, however i have shown you the part regarding "no Recorded cases in Belgium", to show you how this is untrue, to look at the full document view
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=21659
Here is the bit i feel most relevant to your question.

5. How many people pick up MRSA in hospitals?

There were 7,647 MRSA bloodstream infections from 2003 to 2004, an increase of 3.6% in England over the last year.

But this represents only part of the total picture. There are also, for example, surgical site infections, ulcers and other wound infections. However, the Health Protection Agency does not currently collect these figures.

6. How do MRSA rates in the UK compare to those in other countries?

The prevalence of hospital acquired infections and MRSA in hospitals varies widely within the EU.

The rate of HCAI is 9% in England compared with 7% in the Netherlands, and 8% in Spain and Denmark. Rates in France are between 6-10% and 5-10% in the United States.

There has been a significant increase of MRSA in Austria, Belgium, Germany and the UK during 1998-2003. The rate of MRSA increased most quickly in Germany (8% to 18% and Austria (5% to 14%). The rate in the UK is stable following a fast rise of MRSA in the 1990s.

There are countries with very low rates of MRSA, such as the Netherlands, which has the lowest rate of MRSA in Europe. Earlier this year, Chief Medical Officer Sir Liam Donaldson visited the country on a fact-finding mission.

MRSA has become more of a problem in the UK for a number of interrelated reasons. These include the fact that the strains responsible for most infections in the UK are well adapted to spreading between patients. Also, we have a higher proportion of patients who are susceptible to this infection.

7. How many have patients have died of MRSA in England?

National Audit Office (NAO) estimates there have been 5,000 deaths a year attributable to hospital-acquired infections.

However, this figure has to be treated with caution because it is based on US figures from the 1980s.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) study found that MRSA was mentioned as a contributory factor in 800 death certificates in 2002.

But it is worth remembering that some 70 million people went to hospital from 2002 to 2003 including 11.4 million in-patients.

And there were 539,200 deaths in England and Wales in 2003 from all causes.

8. How much does MRSA cost the NHS?

It is estimated that 100,000 people a year pick up some form of infection while in hospital, costing around ?1 billion a year.

Answer 2

MRSA exists on many people both inside and outside hospital, it is known as hospital aquired because people in hospital are more likely to catch infections.

As to why it is so high, dirty floors etc...are not the case, the biggest problem is doctors, nurses, physio's, OT's etc...not washing their hands between patients, and also in my opinion, the sheer number of visitors now seemingly permitted at a bedside at one time. As for Belgium having no cases, that is factually incorrect.

Answer 3

Because our hospitals are dirty. Often the cleaning is carried out by outside contractors who employ staff that has not been trained in the correct procedures for cleaning thoroughly and efficiently. There is so much pressure on specialised medical staff that things are not disinfected or sterilised properly either. Modern hospitals often are designed and built for practicality without thought for the suitability of materials for a totally hygienic context. It is difficult to eliminate bacteria from plastics for instance. Cleaning products that were used in the past have been declared "too harsh" and their modern equivalents are not as effective.
Visiting hours and numbers of visitors have been extended and contacts with carriers have therefore increased. Medical staff go in and out wearing the same clothes, instead of changing into clean surgical gear as they do on the continent when they come in. They also do not always wash their hands between patients.Our system of large wards where people come and go as if it were a market place does not help either nor the fact that out patients walk through or have clinics in rooms off the same corridors. Lessons learnt in Pasteur's time have been forgotten.
Whilst our world has become more polluted, we are less resistant to bugs through living in more hygienic conditions in our daily life and our immunity is therefore weaker. Through their over use, antibiotics have become less effective at combating infections.The MRSA bug has therefore mutated and become resistant to them.
However C.Dif. is just as bad but has not had the same press to date.

Answer 4

Because Margaret Thatcher when Prime Minister so disliked the NHS she allowed it to run down - and then privatised the cleaning contracts for the hospitals - this meant cleaning was no longer done as thoroughly as previously - consequently certain infections were allowed to develop and have now become so endemic it is almost impossible to eradicate.

Answer 5

because a tory goverment destroyed most public services . with the nhs it got rid of staff cleaners who had pride in their work and felt they belonged to the nhs and replaced them with cheap contract cleaners who have no loyalty they might be cleaning a hospital one day and a office block the next so a not familiar with the nurses or the hospital. they are usually migrant cheap labour

Answer 6

Staphylococcus bacteria are extremely common in the environment (a third of humans world-wide are estimated to carry it on their bodies and are not harmed by it), and is usually not a problem to healthy individuals. Historically, staphylococcus infections begin only after the individual has suffered a skin break or open wound. Recently,

DUE TO INSTITUTIONAL OVERUSE OF ANTIBIOTICS, STRAINS OF STAPHYLOCCUS AUREUS HAVE DEVELOPED DRUG REISTANCE.

Answer 7

cos the government have ruined the NHS along with everything else. Hospitals aren't kept clean anymore. Bring back Matron!!!!!

Answer 8

Hygene! Basics like hand washing is ignored.(God Help Us)

Answer 9

Are you Belgian per chance?

Answer 10

dirty hospitals