Hospital Superbug super lies?

Question

I find it hard to believe that all of a sudden these 'superbugs' MRSA and all the others are real.

I think it is all a invention.

In the 1950s & 1960s, Doctors used to do ward rounds with cigarettes hanging out there mouths. How come we did not hear about superbugs then?

It is all a load of codswallop if you ask me.

Answer 1

then you are a fool. MRSA was first detected and identified over twenty years ago, VRE is more recent being found about fifteen years ago. The fact that these bacteria have gotten into the community pool is the news, not the fact of their existence. The medical community has known about them for decades. Suggest you read the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) from the mid seventies on, you will find a mighty compilation of information on MRSA and VRE (the so called superbugs). Just because you don't want to believe, doesn't make it codswallop.

Answer 2

Because antibiotcs were new then. Antiobiotics came around the 1940's. It takes a while for germs to develop/evolve resistance. Drug-resistant bacteria (MRSA, VRE, etc) really emerged within the last 15 years or so, but mostly as hospital-acquired infections. Only now are people ballyhoo-ing the matter because the germs are now being found outside of hospitals and in homes and the community.

For most part, you can think it codswallop if you like. As lnog as you maintain great hygiene standards, you have nothing to worry about.

However, if you do happen to get a drug-resistant infection, then god-help-you if you continue to believe it to be nonsense.

For the theists of the bunch, have you ever stopped to consider maybe god is on the bacteria's side, and he's helping them survive against our efforts to wipe them out? Why do theists always assume that god prefers humans over his other creations? I'm fairly neutral on the subject, I'm just putting the idea out there for you to consider.

And MICHAELANGELO, did you neally feel it was necessary to SPAM this question by cutting and pasting a large chunk of a website that SELLS fraudulent supplements that are TOXIC to humans???

Answer 3

I have a family member with MRSA and it's no joke. The infection was so horrible that she lost chunks of flesh from her face and neck and she had weeks of infusions and a couple of surgeries. I think that there are a few reasons why this is more common now. First, doctors are over-prescribing antibiotics for viruses (won't help a viral infection) and for infections that might manifest. Second, we are over sanitizing our environment which makes our immune systems weaker so when bacteria adapts and changes we can't fight it off anymore. Third, hospitals don't have as much fresh air ventilation as they used to - the same stale air gets recirculated.

MRSA has been around for a long time and it's only now just caught the media's attention as a health issue. Regular handwashing with plain old soap and water is the best way to prevent it and everyone should have been doing that already.

Answer 4

mrsa is a very real "superbug" i am a paramedic and work in the er. we have seen an increase in the number of mrsa cases lately. why, not sure. this bacteria is spread by contact and is resistant to penicillin. it forms abscess on the skin that when ready must be drained of puss and packed in order to completely kill the infection. also a strong antibiotic like bactrim ds is useful is treating. hospitals have this bug because of all the close contact. it is a staph infection that is also seen in locker rooms and other areas where humans have tight quarters and can easily spread germs. it is not out of control as the media would have you believe. however, in those whose immune system is compromised or in those with other health issues, mrsa can cause serious complications

Answer 5

If you're serious, and not trolling, these superbugs have come about, in part because they are living things and living things evolve. Doctors who prescibe antibiotics for viral infections like colds are partially to blame. The patient is partly to blame because they stop the medication before they're supposed to, which allows some of the bugs to live ... now these bugs have resistance to the antibiotic. That's how it happens. There are many resistant organisms out there, but they have been increasing because of the increased use of antibiotics over the years.

Answer 6

In the past, 1991 till 1998 I worked in a Nursing Home, that is where I first heard of MRSA. It has been around for years. And yes it is dangerous. A person must take precautions when you are exposed to it. I remember when we all had to used gowns and gloves, masks and a really wash when we were done taking care of a person with MRSA. So Yes it is real.....

Answer 7

Lies?
my father picked up a "super bug" at St Paul's hospital in Vancouver while he was in ICU after a heart attack he suffered just over a year and a half ago.
if you think it's a load of garbage then you have not done any research at all.
he was in isolation for over a month and damaged his circulatory system terribly. he would have fully recovered from the heart attack had he not gotten that strain of virus. now instead of enjoying his retirement he eats handfuls of meds daily and gets out of breath going to the toilet.
have you ever heard of evolution? do you think that humans are the only ones that evolve?
give your head a shake and do some reading before you dismiss something that can be so deadly.

Answer 8

How much biology did you have in school, in coollege. I've had a dozen.(and enough reading to be pre-med). Things like TB should have been wipeed out years ago, But various human factors got involved and now it requires stronger meds with more chance of side-effects, to treat it!
Superbug is on it's way,unless we as humanity straghtens up!

Answer 9

UHM i have the so called 'super bug' it is REAL! it hurts like ****


** now it is becoming more popular. And really people need to be more careful because of it.
It mostly happens to the healthy people.
BUT THiS IS REAL!

Answer 10

MRSA
Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus - is the medical term for MRSA, also known as "The Superbug." It belongs to the Staphylococcus Aureus family of bacterium. There is no doubt that this bacterium has always been with us. Obviously it was not recognised until advances were made in medical detection of bacterium that cause infections.

Staphylococcus Aureus causes many bacterial infections. These can be: Boils, Carbuncles, Infected Wounds, Deep Abscesses and most worryingly, infection of the Blood Stream, which is medically termed as Bacteraemia.

Blood stream infection is also sometimes called Septicaemia, this is of greater severity and clinical significance. A wide variety of bacterium can cause Bacteraemia but one of the most common is Staphylococcus Aureus. This is a very difficult situation for treatment or cure.

The symptoms though, are not specific to MRSA. They can be the same for other bacterium that cause Septicaemia. Symptoms of Septicaemia can include: high fever, rigors (shaking), a raised white blood cell count and disturbance in clotting of the blood, with a tendency to bleed and ultimate failure of the vital organs. This is the kind of MRSA infection that has the highest death rate in England and Wales and also now in the USA.

MRSA bacterium can be found on the skin, in the nose, in wounds and in blood and urine or any other body site. They are most likely to cause infection when a person has a break in their skin or another opening where bacterium can get inside the body.

Common skin conditions caused by MRSA include infected cuts, boils, infected hair follicles, fluid filled blisters (impetigo), or skin sores that look like infected insect bites. Minor MRSA infection can sometimes develop into more serious complications, such as spread of the staph infection to surrounding tissues, serious abscesses, blood, bone, or heart infection.

First descriptions of Staph aureus came in the 1880's. It came to the attention of Medical Practitioners that this bacterium was the most common cause of infection of wounds following surgical procedures. (Surgery, Tube Insertion, Instruments, etc.):

Although Penicillin was discovered by Sir Alexander Fleming in 1929, Penicillin was not Introduced against S. aureus until the 1940's and most strains of S. aureus were found sensitive to its use. Prior to Penicillin, these infections could cause serious, or sometimes, even fatal infection, as no treatment or cure was available before Penicillin.

Unfortunately, when Penicillin was used for treatment of these staph infections, a few strains of Staph aureus made a protective enzyme called Penicillinase, which broke down the penicillin and protected the Staph aureus bacterium. Beta-lactamase is a type of enzyme produced by some bacterium that is responsible for their resistance to beta-lactam antibiotics like penicillins, cephalosporins, cephamycins and carbapenems. These antibiotics have a common element in their molecular structure: a four-atom ring known as a beta-lactam. The lactamase enzyme breaks that ring open, deactivating the molecule's antibacterial properties.

These strains had become very resistant to Penicillin and in 1959, approximately 90-95% of all Staph aureus strains which were taken from patients with clinical infections, were Penicillin resistant. The bacterium that caused these infections had become evolutionist in nature. Penicillin was therefore no longer effective for the treatment and cure of these resistant Staph aureus strains.

'Methicillin' was the next medical development and was derived from Penicillin, to treat these evolutionist Staph aureus strains. It was manufactured to combat the degradation of the antibiotic by the newly formed enzyme called Penicillinase. This ensured that the previously "Penicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus," would still be treatable by using this new medical drug. About a year after the initial use of Methicillin, MRSA was discovered in England. Staphylococcus Aureus had again become evolutionist in nature and was now resistant to Methicillin.

There are few reports about MRSA in the 1960's and the 1970's. More appeared during the 1980's. It became massive in the mid-1990's. Epidemic levels of certain strains of MRSA became uncontrollable in medical hospitals throughout the United Kingdom. Many believe that the cause of this outbreak was associated with "new comfortable living habits" and as a result, a reduction in our immune system strength.

These new strains are very infectious and transmit easily. Colonisation was taking place between the Medical staff and patients they were treating. The new strains have the ability to cause very serious infections. These new strains now represent about 50% of the Staph aureus bacterium found in patients with blood stream infections in England, Wales and the USA.


The Staphylococcal Family
Staph aureus is just one of a large family of staphylococcal bacterium. Their normal place of residence is on the human skin. The most common non - Staph aureus Staphylococcus on human skin is called S. Epidermidis. Generally harmless and called part of the 'normal communal flora' of the human body, many S. Epidermidis are also resistant to antibiotics, including methicillin. They have the same resistance mechanism as MRSA and are referred to as MRSE.

Although resident on everyone's skin, but normally harmless, S. Epidermidis causes significant infection if it enters wounds upon medical devices. For Example: Artificial hip joints, heart valves, or when medical staff use intravenous catheters to provide access the bloodstream. Severely ill patients, such as those in intensive medical care units, or those undergoing cancer chemotherapy, are at a greater risk of this sort of infection than most others.


MRSA Colonisation
Staphylococcus aureus of the most common kind, including those strains that are MRSA in nature, can cause a very wide range of infection. These range from Asymptomatic Colonisation, where the MRSA is doing no damage but still has the capability of causing clinical infection, to fatal Septicaemia, which is the most severe form of blood stream infection. Trying to treat or cure Septicaemia is nigh on impossible.


Colonisation Areas
About 30% of the worlds population is colonised by Staph aureus. In Medical Hospitals the percentage is greatly increased, due to more contact with cases of infection. Staph aureus carriage is more likely to be MRSA in hospital populations, more amongst patients and Medical staff, than in the general community. This is because antibiotic-resistant bacterium are encouraged to develop by the use of antibiotics to treat ranges of infections in hospitals. That being said, Community Acquired MRSA - CA-MRSA is also on the increase, especially in countries like; The Middle East, Iraq and Africa.

Carriage sites of MRSA are most commonly in the nose and on the skin, especially in folds, such as the Axilla (armpit) or the groin area. A carrier of MRSA can be a source of infection for themselves. Self inflicted infection. Hip replacement and heart surgery are high risk situations and if pre-screening detects MRSA carriage, medical decontamination with skin and nasal treatment in an isolation ward is recommended before they undergo surgery.

MRSA Mimics
There are no specific 'MRSA diseases' like with Maleria, Tuberculosis or Typhoid. Staph aureus infects a broad range of tissues and bodily systems, often giving ambiguous symptoms that are common to many different infections, caused by many other bacterium.

Infections of Wounds
Staph aureus / MRSA is the most common cause of wound infection - either after accidental injury or medical surgery. This shows as a red and inflamed wound, with yellow pus flowing from the site. This wound may break open, or fail to heal and a wound abscess could develop.

Superficial Types of Ulcers
Pressure, varicose and diabetic ulcers, which are all attributable to a poor blood supply with some superficial skin damage, are often sites of MRSA infection.

Intravenous line infections
MRSA may infect the entrance site of an intravenous line, causing localised inflammation with pus from which the MRSA can enter the blood stream to cause a bacteraemia, more commonly known as a blood stream infection.

Deep Abscesses
If MRSA (or any strain of Staph aureus) spreads from a local site into the blood stream it can lodge at various sites in the body, such as the kidneys, lungs, liver, bones or spleen, etc: This can cause one or more deep abscesses but distant from the original site of infection. These can be painful with a high fever, a high white blood cell count with signs of inflammation near the new infection. The patient will be very unwell and may have rigors (shivers) and low blood pressure (shock). Over a period, the body enters a catabolic state with breakdown of tissue, loss of weight and failure of the essential organs. This is usually linked with an associated septicaemia and by this time, treatment or cure has, in most cases, become impossible.

Lung infections
MRSA / S. Aureus is a rare cause of lung infection except in Intensive Care Units (ICU's). There, the patient is on a ventilator unit with a tube in the trachea, which by-passes the immune system defences of the nose and throat. MRSA can gain entry to the lungs via the tube and can cause pneumonia which may be fatal.

Bacteraemia / Septicaemia
MRSA / Staph aureus can enter the normally sterile blood stream either from a local site of infection, such as a wound, ulcer, abscess, or via an intravenous catheter (placed there for their medical care). Bacteraemia describes the presence of MRSA / Staph aureus in the blood. Septicaemia can follow and is the clinical term for a severe illness caused by the bacterium in the blood stream. The symptoms are not specific to MRSA and can be the same for other bacterium that cause septicaemia. Typically symptoms can include high fever; raised white blood cell count; rigors (shaking); disturbance of blood clotting with a tendency to bleed and failure of vital organs.

This is the kind of MRSA infection that has the highest death rate. Treatment is better than cure and prevention is best of all when dealing with any situation where you might be at risk from MRSA.

http://www.mrsamedical.com/