MRSA, Mersa, Staph, Staff Infection, Treatment & Symptoms

Is United Action Against MRSA Possible?

Link: BMJ.

Not if this story is anything to go by. The ghost at the grave in all these stories is money. Some of us are too poor to live or we live where the hospital is resource poor.

In December 2003, the Oka vaccine to prevent chickenpox (varicella) was licensed in the United Kingdom for use in susceptible healthcare workers.1 One year later a survey of consultant virologists, who are members of the Clinical Virology Network and who between them provide virology services for 38 trusts located around the United Kingdom, suggests that fewer than half of the trusts have implemented the policy (J Breuer, personal communication, 2004). Lack of funds or problems within occupational health departments are perceived as the main obstacles. Failure to protect healthcare workers against this potentially serious infection has health and safety implications both for themselves and the patients they care for.

ALCOHOLIC SUPER-BUG WASH

Link: Mirror.co.uk

A HOSPITAL that introduced an alcohol-based handwash to fight MRSA was stunned to discover boozing patients were drinking the stuff. Staff noticed they were getting through an unusual amount of the special gel, which had been put in wards so people could clean their hands easily and prevent the spread of disease. But patients discovered another use for it. At 62 per cent alcohol, it seemed perfect for an afternoon tipple. A source at University Hospital Aintree, in Liverpool, said: "When we first put out the gel, the worry was that none of the patients or visitors would use it. "So when we kept having to replace the bottles, we were really pleased. "But then we noticed we were getting through it at a rate of knots - far more than we ever expected. We didn't know where it was going until one of the nurses noticed an old lady putting her tea cup underneath the pump and pressing it.

Chemist aids undercover work

Link: Northampton Today

A CHEMIST in Northampton has been drafted in to undercover investigations to expose the extent of the potentially lethal super bug MRSA in the nation's hospitals. The blight of MRSA on the National Health Service has become a recurring headache for the Government, despite ministers repeatedly pledging to tackle the problem and clean up the country's hospital wards. Chris Malyszewicz has been employed in a series of investigations carried out by tabloid newspapers and documentary film makers to find out how widespread MRSA is. He has been involved in testing swabs taken from not only hospitals and ambulances, but also from cabs, banks and the London Underground to see how prevalent MRSA is. He said: "We know that we have got it (MRSA) badly in this country, but we don't want to admit it. We have got to realise how dangerous it is and how easily it can be spread."

Finland MRSA 400% increase

Link: Helsingin Sanomat - International Edition

The MRSA hospital bacteria caused a record number of life-threatening serious general infections last year.       A year earlier only five such overall infections with MRSA were recorded, but in 2004 the number more than quadrupled. When the MRSA bacteria get into the bloodstream, such general infections have a mortality rate of between 30 and 40 percent.       To improve the situation, Finnish hospital districts will be able to apply for funds from the EUR 2.2 million earmarked by Parliament for the purpose of prevention of hospital infections.

Bug experts in city

Link: icBirmingham

Birmingham is set to become an international driving force in combating killer infections including MRSA and HIV. Leading professors will come together for a pioneering multi-million pound research centre at Heartlands Hospital, run by the Health Protection Agency. They will focus on finding cures and breakthrough treatment for TB, HIV, meningitis, chemical burns and superbug MRSA once the centre gets off the ground in three years time. The centre comes at a time when the Government has raised concerns over the rising numbers of MRSA, TB and HIV cases. Birmingham now has the second highest rates of tuberculosis in the country after London, with about 800 each year. Brian McCloskey, deputy director of local Health Protection Agency services, said: "There are already a lot of experts in Birmingham but this centre really will put the city on the map for developing things of national importance.

Need-to-know is now right-to-know

Link: BBC NEWS

Under the legislation, all public authorities are required to maintain lists of the information they publish proactively, known as publication schemes. For example, the NHS website now publishes information on the local rates of MRSA, the so-called 'superbug' infections in each local hospital.

ESBL could rival MRSA

Link: Times Online - Sunday Times.

EVERY Scottish hospital is to be put on alert for a new superbug that is resistant to normal antibiotics amid fears that Scotland is facing an outbreak. Currently only half of all hospitals are monitoring the deadly strain of bacteria, which is responsible for dozens of deaths across Britain each year. As part of a government crackdown every hospital laboratory in Scotland will be required to report all infections involving extended spectrum beta lactamase-producing (ESBL) coliforms. They will also be issued with an action plan to deal with outbreaks, including the isolation of infected patients and the introduction of disinfection procedures to halt the superbug’s spread. In Scotland, the number of confirmed ESBL infections has risen almost tenfold since 1999. With 220 cases reported by June, the 2004 tally is expected to overtake the record 420 infections identified in 2003. The rising rate of infection has fuelled fears that Scotland could soon be hit by an outbreak similar to the one that killed 28 patients in Shropshire last year. Doctors believe the official Scottish figures represent the tip of the iceberg. Because so few hospitals are monitoring the bacteria, it is not known how widespread the bug is or the number it has killed.

MRSA & The Eye

Link: Polkadot!: MRSA and more.

In the frenzy known as retina clinic this afternoon, I managed to catch Dr. Cockerham calling in the patient we saw together last week. This was the gentleman that Dr. C. did the corneal scraping and culture on, and apparently the culture grew out MRSA --> wow! I didn't know MRSA could grow in the eye, but I suppose those buggers are everywhere (especially in the dialysis unit where the patient goes 3 mornings a week). Anyway, Dr. C. took out the contact lens he put in the patient last week and cultured the lens again in order to confirm the MRSA keratitis diagnosis.

For more information on MRSA and the eye check out the stories below which appear on the new version of this site.

Hospital superbug found in pet dogs and cats

Link: Irish Times Article

The first cases of animals becoming infected with a superbug usually acquired by humans in hospital have now been reported in the Republic. The MRSA infections have been found in up to 30 animals, mainly pet dogs. But the potentially fatal superbug has also been found in cats, horses, rabbits and even a seal. Dr Mary Booth, a lecturer in the school of science at Athlone Institute of Technology, said these were the first reports in Ireland of MRSA in animals. Dr Booth has been carrying out an analysis of the strains of MRSA found in the animals and she confirmed yesterday that a number of strains of MRSA commonly found in humans had been found in the animals. "It suggests there is some type of transmission between the two," she said.