Your medical procedure and superbugs

A few years ago we read a lot about superbugs .... antibiotic resistant bacteria. Superbugs have gotten worse. It is estimated 50,000 people die annually in the US from superbugs. The situation is worse in Europe and much worse in Asia (700,000 world wide). These numbers are growing rapidly. If you are interested, here is a video that will help you understand the problem.

/www.ted.com/talks/maryn_mckenna_what_do_we_do_when_antibiotics_don_t_work_any_more?language=en

Unfortunately, medical facilities are where you are likely to pick up a superbug. Most medical facilities do not report that they have a superbug problem. Here is one that did, the NIH in Bethesds Maryland,

www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/health-science-technology/hunting-the-nightmare-bacteria/a-superbug-outbreak-at-nih/

You may want to ask your medical facility about their superbug history before your next procedure.

Post Edited (RCS) : 4/20/2016 5:32:50 AM (GMT-6)

JNF,

You are right, unless you have a biopsy ..... or breath the air in the medical facility.

Post Edited (RCS) : 4/20/2016 7:05:11 AM (GMT-6)

JNF,

You are right, you probably should look at it a bit more.

Unfortunately, it does not take a surgery in order to contract a superbug in a medical facility. People who had no surgeries have fallen victim to superbugs. Indeed, if you study the NIH outbreak in Maryland, you will see that after they thought they had the outbreak solved it reappeared two times in non-ICU units of the hospital. To make matters worse, each superbug seems to spread in a different way. In Germany and Europe the MRSA seems to be associated with the meat supply.

Forgot to answer your question on superbugs traveling through the air. Unfortunately, the answer is yes the can be spread through the air:

www.netdoctor.co.uk/healthy-living/news/a23022/hospital-superbugs-can-travel-through-air/

Hope this helps.

Post Edited (RCS) : 4/20/2016 9:26:17 AM (GMT-6)

Bozo,

You are right (lol) 50,000 is a big number (I took it from the TED presentation I linked to); however, I have seen the estimate of current deaths in the US put at 73,000 annually. That is an average of 250 per day. If you had terrorist attacks in the US accounting for 250 deaths a day in the US it would be huge news.

I hope my intent was clear in my first post .... you may want to ask your medical facility about its superbug history.

JNFs position that radiation in a medical facility may be safer than surgery (as far as superbugs are concerned) is an incorrect position as far has I understand the facts.

RCS, I respectfully challenge you to show the facts for which you state that the actual incidence of contracting a Super Bug is the same in a hospital confinement setting and a non-confinement radiation therapy clinic. That would really surprise me.

And as good as TED is, I haven't taken anything as gospel. Anyone can disseminate information and just because it is from TED doesn't guarantee that it is accurate, factual or evidence based. We have all learned that from the internet in accordance with the following famous quote:

"You should not believe everything you see on the internet"

Abraham Lincoln

Purgatory,
Extremely sorry to hear of your bout with MRSA.

The guy who taught my superbug class (retired associate professor of infectious diseases (MD), UCLA and Kaiser Permenente) indicted that MRSA was antibiotic resistant but that it could be treated with antibiotics. It is my understanding that this would entail a laboratory determination of MRSA antibiotic resistance and susceptibility, before establishing an antibiotic treatment, and there might only be one or two antibiotics that may help.

Would you share some specifics concerning your treatment, such as laboratory tests that may have been run and the antibiotics that may have been used?

I am glad your wife (the nurse) is keeping an eye out for early signs of infection. As I understand it, this is very important in treating MRSA.

Best wishes.

Post Edited (RCS) : 4/20/2016 2:15:47 PM (GMT-6)

I had a community-acquired MRSA infection last year. My best educated guess is that I picked it up at the gym. Clindamycin didn't work, but Bactrim (trimethiprim/sulfate) did. The next step, if that doesn't work is IV vancomycin (nasty on the kidneys) daily for 10 to 14 days.

It was, I hyperbozolize at times.lol…your intent is clear… none of us are deliberate…as we deliberate .

Bono, Of course.

Thud, do you remember which antibiotic you were given?

Post Edited (RCS) : 4/20/2016 6:19:39 PM (GMT-6)

For those who want better and more quantitative information on this issue, the CDC tracks and reports on antibiotic resistant bugs. For instance:
www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/pdf/ar-threats-2013-508.pdf
and
www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/federal-engagement-in-ar/national-strategy/index.html

As an aside, the last time I visited a hospital, there were disinfection stations at the door of every hospital room. Also, insist that all medical staff that enters a room wear gloves.

Post Edited (Sr Sailor) : 4/21/2016 6:25:11 PM (GMT-6)

Purgatory,

Thank you for posting your information. It seems both your and TimG's MRSA treatments followed the same path. Failure of the single antibiotics followed by good results with the Bactrim (two antibiotics).

Question. After your course of antibiotics, did your doctor recommend probiotics to recolonize the good bacteria in your gut?

All the best.



Sr. Sailor,
Thanks for the CDC information!

Probiotics are a source of good bacteria for your guts. Usually you eat them.

When you take antibiotics all bacteria (even the good ones) are wiped out .... unless they are resistant to the antibiotic you have taken. I have heard of patients taking probiotics to quickly recolonize the good bacteria. The theory is that it may help in a case where the only bacteria you have left in your gut are antibiotic resistant. I can not site any studies, but you might try googling the subject.

I took probiotics throughout the course of my antibiotic treatment for MRSA. Bactrim is an antibiotic that has been around a long time and thankfully works well against many MRSA infections.

Maryn McKenna has written a fine book on the subject : Superbug: The Fatal Menace of MRSA