MRSA: The New AIDS

IntoxicatingToxin

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there is also a SUPERBUG because of this antibiotic soap.

MRSA is a superbug. I don't know if that's what you meant or not.

There are a lot of reasons why MRSA exists today. Overuse of antibiotics is also one of them. I posted about this once before. Most antibiotics prescribed are given for illnesses that aren't even cured with antibiotics. Take ear infections. More than half of ear infections are caused by allergies or viruses, neither of which will be treated with an antibiotic - but doctors keep prescribing them to make mom feel better. Ear infections will actually go away on their own if you just leave em to their devices.

My dentist gave me amoxicillin (sp?) a couple years ago when I got a tooth pulled... he actually gave it to me BEFORE I had my tooth pulled, to take for a few days just in case there was an infection... I didn't feel like I had an infection, so I didn't even take the meds. Didn't fill the prescription or anything. I went and had my tooth pulled, and I never did have or get an infection. Completely useless.

Another reason they think that illnesses are becoming drug resistant is because of food... meat especially. Antibiotics are used for growth purposes in our meat.

There are also drug resistant strains of tuberculosis and influenza floating around. Woo. :rolleyes:
 

B_Italian1

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Bet you didn't hear that on CNN.

It was on Fox News. Hey Osiris, did you know that? :wink:

This is yet another example of what happens when people want to have their cake and eat it too. You play, you pay. When you don't know who you're screwing around with, shit happens.

Half of me wants to say this is a case of overhype and scare mongering but the other half of me believes that most people thought that about AIDS.

You never know. I remember when there were less than 100 cases of HIV.

When it comes to matters of communicable disease I prefer to get my information from the CDC or NIH.

Yes, but unfortunately when I have referenced the CDC and NIH, people have said they are anti gay, or don't want people to have sex. :confused: :rolleyes:

Just to calm the hysteria........For a "healthy person with an intact immune system......MRSA poses little threat......in fact many people carry the bacteria and don't know it......

Many people aren't aware that they have a compromised immune system and are vulnerable to just about anything.

IMHO: Those of you with weak immune systems, who like to steal strangers panties, undies, or jocks for masturbation purposes are at a higher risk for MRSA than the general public. I'm just saying . . . :rolleyes:

:eek::eek::eek:
 

snoozan

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I've been spending a lot of time in hospitals and nursing homes over the last month, as well as a significant time in a YMCA. You'd better believe I wash my hands, obsessively use alcohol gel (Purell and the like), and am very careful about what I touch in these settings. I wipe down the gym equipment both before and after I use it. In both the nursing home and the hospital, they have Purell dispensers (handfree) at every door. I use them every time and have taught my son how to use them.

One thing (on a tangential note) that used to bother me was when I spent time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). There were babies in there that were months early and barely over a pound. When you went in, there were multiple scrubbing stations with huge posters instructing how to do a proper surgical scrub. I did this religiously (I perversely enjoyed it). It used to really piss me off when people would scoff at the signs , get annoyed at those of us taking the time to wash correctly, and then do a cursory handwashing before going into the NICU.

I don't understand how people don't care and don't understand the basics of hygeine in a setting where many people are already sick.
 

ManlyBanisters

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Just to calm the hysteria........For a "healthy person with an intact immune system......MRSA poses little threat......in fact many people carry the bacteria and don't know it......I used to work as a nurse in a hospital and we would all be periodically checked for MRSA and many nurses in fact did carry the bug with NO ill effects.....It's another story for the elderly, infirmed, and immunocomprimised, it can cause them problems but still remains treatable....MRSA has been with us for decades.....There is actually a more deadly superbug called VRE or Vancomycin resistant enterococcus......google it for more info.....

QFE - there is a lot of media hype about MRSA at the moment. My father has had it (during a prolonged hospital stay) and I checked in to this VERY thoroughly before going to see him (parental responsibility and whatknot). Everything I found out tallies with what he says.

I know loads of people have allready quoted Indie - but it bears requoting - a lot of the hysteria is just that - Hysteria.
 

Osiris

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It was on Fox News. Hey Osiris, did you know that? :wink:

Cut me some slack man, I'm just getting all the channels turned on. :biggrin1:

I've been spending a lot of time in hospitals and nursing homes over the last month, as well as a significant time in a YMCA. You'd better believe I wash my hands, obsessively use alcohol gel (Purell and the like), and am very careful about what I touch in these settings. I wipe down the gym equipment both before and after I use it. In both the nursing home and the hospital, they have Purell dispensers (handfree) at every door. I use them every time and have taught my son how to use them.

One thing (on a tangential note) that used to bother me was when I spent time in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit). There were babies in there that were months early and barely over a pound. When you went in, there were multiple scrubbing stations with huge posters instructing how to do a proper surgical scrub. I did this religiously (I perversely enjoyed it). It used to really piss me off when people would scoff at the signs , get annoyed at those of us taking the time to wash correctly, and then do a cursory handwashing before going into the NICU.

I don't understand how people don't care and don't understand the basics of hygeine in a setting where many people are already sick.

THANK YOU!!! My wife's facility just went through a Norovirus outbreak and I went to help serve meals to the residents after they finally closed down the dining rooms which was the main reason it spread. The day I was there, the head chef became affected and I asked my wife, have you truly screened the kitchen staff?

Later to my horror, I found out why the virus was spreading. All staff was wearing gloves and masks, but they were walking into the kitchen and discarding thenm there. After 6 more cases came to light, they positioned receptacles outside the kitchen for disposal of contaminated gloves and masks and now the virus has subsided again.

Like you point out, a little time washing and sterilizing would save so much danger for others.

Remember, 20 seconds of friction and lather can possibly save a life. It's true.
 

Guy-jin

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Uh... this is the EXACT behavior that's helping it gain strength... there is no reason to use antibiotic creams. MOST doctors will tell you to do regular handwashing.

I assure you, as someone with a degree in microbiology, that ethanol jelly is not helping any bacterium "gain strength" (meaning antibiotic resistance), because it isn't an antibiotic.

QFE - there is a lot of media hype about MRSA at the moment. My father has had it (during a prolonged hospital stay) and I checked in to this VERY thoroughly before going to see him (parental responsibility and whatknot). Everything I found out tallies with what he says.

I know loads of people have allready quoted Indie - but it bears requoting - a lot of the hysteria is just that - Hysteria.


Also, why is it "hysteria"? I don't see people going crazy in the streets. MRSA is something that you could probably ask people on the street about only to get blank stares and shrugs. People should be educated about what it is. Awareness of it and the fact that sanitary practices can severely reduce your chances of getting it is hardly "hysteria", and as far as I can tell, hardly anyone is aware of it or could even tell you what "MRSA" stands for.

And the only place less sanitary than a pre-school is that plastic-ball-jungle-gym thing at a Chuck-E-Cheese. Yuck!
 

Guy-jin

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Just to calm the hysteria........For a "healthy person with an intact immune system......MRSA poses little threat......in fact many people carry the bacteria and don't know it......I used to work as a nurse in a hospital and we would all be periodically checked for MRSA and many nurses in fact did carry the bug with NO ill effects.....It's another story for the elderly, infirmed, and immunocomprimised, it can cause them problems but still remains treatable....MRSA has been with us for decades.....There is actually a more deadly superbug called VRE or Vancomycin resistant enterococcus......google it for more info.....

Indeed, about 25% of people are just walking around with Staph. aureus on their skin. Anyone telling you that you're going to die of it when you're completely healthy is lying. That's another reason the comparison to HIV isn't very accurate.

However, as I'm sure you know as a former nurse, Staph. aureus is one of if not the most common post-surgical infection as a result of its prevalence, and that's where it is killing most people.

So really, the best way to avoid getting a life-threatening infection of MRSA is to try to avoid having to get surgery.
 

earllogjam

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Thanks for the thread and the information Jason.

One place that is particularly prone to these kinds of infections is on cruise ships where you have 2000 people coming from every place in the country, every 10 days, confined in a small area touching every handrail on the ship. I was on a small ship once and I'd say 25% of the people caught a bug that was brought on board from a sick kid. Ruined many a vacation.

The last cruise I was on the ship required everybody coming on board to sanitize their hands with an automatic Purell dispenser at each port and each entry. They had conspicous Purell dispensers on board at the restaurants and throughout the ship and like me most people used them.

I appreciate companies like Norwegian Cruise Lines stepping up to the plate and being proactive. It probably is good policy on their part too because a sick crew is worthless.
 

Industrialsize

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Thanks for the thread and the information Jason.

One place that is particularly prone to these kinds of infections is on cruise ships where you have 2000 people coming from every place in the country, every 10 days, confined in a small area touching every handrail on the ship. I was on a small ship once and I'd say 25% of the people caught a bug that was brought on board from a sick kid. Ruined many a vacation.

The last cruise I was on the ship required everybody coming on board to sanitize their hands with an automatic Purell dispenser at each port and each entry. They had conspicous Purell dispensers on board at the restaurants and throughout the ship and like me most people used them.

I appreciate companies like Norwegian Cruise Lines stepping up to the plate and being proactive. It probably is good policy on their part too because a sick crew is worthless.
FYI.....cruise ship infections are not caused by MRSA, they are caused by NOROVIRUS
 

No_Strings

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This has been lingering around UK hospitals for God knows how long. I genuinely can't remember when MRSA didn't exist.

I'm obsessive about hygiene and washing my hands in particular anyway, but I'm on treatment which lowers my immune system so I really dislike going into hospitals, but of course I need to routinely so they can keep an eye on my medication and consult me. Hmmph.

(I've never actually known anyone who's contracted this virus, by the way.)
 

earllogjam

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From what I gather MRSA is a bacteria which is resistant to antibiotics but can be killed on surfaces by common sanitizers like bleach, lysol, heat, UV...etc. So something like Purell will kill MRSA bacteria on contact.

Viruses are a different kind of pathogen in that they incorporate themselves in our cells and use our own cells as a means replicate so antibiotics, only effective for bacterial infections, have no effect combating say a NOROVIRUS infection or flu bug in the body.

But washing with soap and water mechanically gets rid of both viruses and bacteria on your hands.
 

Industrialsize

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From what I gather MRSA is a bacteria which is resistant to antibiotics but can be killed on surfaces by common sanitizers like bleach, lysol, heat, UV...etc. So something like Purell will kill MRSA bacteria on contact.

Viruses are a different kind of pathogen in that they incorporate themselves in our cells and use our own cells as a means replicate so antibiotics, only effective for bacterial infections, have no effect combating say a NOROVIRUS infection or flu bug in the body.

But washing with soap and water mechanically gets rid of both viruses and bacteria on your hands.
FYI...common sanitizers also kill viruses.........I just bought up the Norovirus/cruise ship connection so people wouldn't think that the "sick cruise ships" we've all read about in the news were not infected with MRSA.......Even if a ship had MRSA aboard it would cause the epidemics that NOROVIRUS causes......EVERYONE is susceptible to NOROVIRUS but , generally, it is only the elderly, very young, infirmed, and immunocompromised that are susceptible to MRSA.
 

earllogjam

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FYI...common sanitizers also kill viruses.........I just bought up the Norovirus/cruise ship connection so people wouldn't think that the "sick cruise ships" we've all read about in the news were not infected with MRSA.......Even if a ship had MRSA aboard it would cause the epidemics that NOROVIRUS causes......EVERYONE is susceptible to NOROVIRUS but , generally, it is only the elderly, very young, infirmed, and immunocompromised that are susceptible to MRSA.

Thanks for clearing that up Indy. I was just about to throw away my Purell bottle. :tongue:
 

Lex

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Researchers at Johns Hopkins University were able to lower the infection rates at hospitals simply by creating and using checklists that reminded employees of the proper cleanliness procedures. Although they got the infection rate eliminated, the medical authorities are saying that his use of the checklist constituted research without informed consent and are blasting the research.

INSANE.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/30gawande.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

The New York Times said:
A year ago, researchers at Johns Hopkins University published the results of a program that instituted in nearly every intensive care unit in Michigan a simple five-step checklist designed to prevent certain hospital infections. It reminds doctors to make sure, for example, that before putting large intravenous lines into patients, they actually wash their hands and don a sterile gown and gloves.


The results were stunning. Within three months, the rate of bloodstream infections from these I.V. lines fell by two-thirds. The average I.C.U. cut its infection rate from 4 percent to zero. Over 18 months, the program saved more than 1,500 lives and nearly $200 million.


Yet this past month, the Office for Human Research Protections shut the program down. The agency issued notice to the researchers and the Michigan Health and Hospital Association that, by introducing a checklist and tracking the results without written, informed consent from each patient and health-care provider, they had violated scientific ethics regulations. Johns Hopkins had to halt not only the program in Michigan but also its plans to extend it to hospitals in New Jersey and Rhode Island.


The government’s decision was bizarre and dangerous. But there was a certain blinkered logic to it, which went like this: A checklist is an alteration in medical care no less than an experimental drug is. Studying an experimental drug in people without federal monitoring and explicit written permission from each patient is unethical and illegal. Therefore it is no less unethical and illegal to do the same with a checklist....
 

B_Italian1

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I wonder why straights aren't getting this disease?

Drug-resistant staph found to be passed in gay sex
Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:17pm EST
By Amanda Beck
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A drug-resistant strain of potentially deadly bacteria has moved beyond the borders of U.S. hospitals and is being transmitted among gay men during sex, researchers said on Monday.
They said methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, is beginning to appear outside hospitals in San Francisco, Boston, New York and Los Angeles.
Sexually active gay men in San Francisco are 13 times more likely to be infected than their heterosexual neighbors, the researchers reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"Once this reaches the general population, it will be truly unstoppable," said Binh Diep, a researcher at the University of California, San Francisco who led the study. "That's why we're trying to spread the message of prevention."

Sounds like what happened with AIDS in the early 1980's. It started with gays and then went to straights.


According to chemical analyses, bacteria are spreading among the gay communities of San Francisco and Boston, the researchers said.
"We think that it's spread through sexual activity," Diep said.

What about straights?

Incidence of MRSA is rising along with the resurgence of syphilis, rectal gonorrhea, and new HIV infections partly because of changes in beliefs about the severity of HIV and an increase in risky behaviors, such as illicit drug use and having sex that abrades the skin, Diep's team wrote.

We already know that this has happened in bathhouses, but they still allow them and promote them.

"Your likelihood of contracting each of these diseases increases with the number of sexual partners that you have," Diep said. "The same can probably be said for MRSA."

That's kind of obvious.

Staph infections often look like raised red dots on the skin. Left untreated, the areas can swell and fill with pus.

The best way to avoid infection is by washing the hands or genitals with soap and water, Diep said

The logical answer. Don't sleep around.
 

SteveHd

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So really, the best way to avoid getting a life-threatening infection of MRSA is to try to avoid having to get surgery.
How about avoiding surgery on neonates whose immune system isn't fully developed?
The logical answer. Don't sleep around.
Your username has changed but you haven't. How about condoms?