MRSA

[Twin Bee]

Oh!
But don't they say the same about the increasing use of antibiotics is harming our own defenses so that is why they don't like prescribing them? Also it is said that the use of rat poison is producing super rats immuned to the poisoning effects.

[lindacarl]

Yes - but that's got NOTHING whatsoever to do with using an external antibacterial spray so patients don't die of MRSA bacteria which is possibly/probably on the skin of nurses & visitors.

I'm just TOTALLY & utterly appalled that so called infection control nurses could be so very, very ignorant & pass their misguided totally wrong information onto others. I'd report them immediately (as I did when I saw the uncleared urine on the floor when Carl was in.) & I'm being serious about that as when even infection control nurses get it totally wrong then they open the doors to serious infections of MRSA on many patients.

[puma]

i did not want to really get involved in this discussion,but the hospitel i work in has all the procedure in force for the bug MRSA ,and all anti-bacteria gel is on the door to the wards and everyone must use it and if they don't they are reported regardless of position,i agree with what lindacarl says and it is very hard to get rid of as we carry it,so hopefully all patients if they can will ask the doctor/nurse if they have used the gel or can they use it in front of the patient before they are touched this reassure the patient, i know that we have increased the cleaning schedules on each ward by taking on more domestics and we have a team that goes round each ward inspecting the cleanest of the bays and they do report back any problems.

[Twin Bee]

Linda - take it easy!
The advice given was that the increased use by individuals of bacterial spray, alcohol gels and other products designed to kill germs might be producing super bugs; because bugs want to survive and they adapt - and that the spread of MRSA is a bit like this. The nurse was not saying not to use the products in hospital, but merely saying when used, they need to be properly targeted and applied.  
It is interesting why people in occupations where one might find a lot of bugs don't all drop down dead but people who live very sanitised lives catch quite a lot of germs. Why are we more susceptible to disease; yet we have higher standards of sanitation and personal cleaning, with a products allegedly made to kill all known germs!
The other issue about the spread of MRSA in hospitals is the proximity of beds. The closer they are the more likely of cross infection. I don't know if hospital in Turkey  have beds as close as in UK hospitals but it wouldn't surprise me if they were not.

[sannyrut]

What can I say,apart from thank you,(but no arguments please),to members who contributed to this topic.I did read in a newspaper,think it was last week(Daily Mail)that if you are an in-patient,you should have a shower/bath,before visiting time,and put on clean clothes.Also ask visitors NOT to sit on your bed,but before that,make sure they have used the gel at the room door.Same applies to all staff who may have to examine you.

[lynne]

But we now have the new one - C.... difficile!  Lethal!
(I can never remember the proper name!)

[Crabbit]

quote:Originally posted by puma

 can they use it in front of the patient before they are torched

Setting fire to patients seems a bit drastic.  

[puma]

LOL one way to get the bed shortage solved

been corrected before i get the sack

[lindacarl]

Stuart
The nurses have STILL got it totally wrong. The hand wash/sanitisers/alcohol rubs etc. KILL the bug - whether the bug be super duper or whatever? They ain't going to mutate as they are dead, they've gone to meet their maker, deceased, shuffled off their coil or their cell wall has ruptured.

The nurses have no idea what they are talking about. From their statement the dead bacteria are reacting to being killed by communicating somehow to other bacteria in the vicinity saying 'mutate, mutate'

Super bugs come about when LIVE (not dead) bacteria inhabit us. We take antibiotics & they mutate so they are resistant. You might get many multibillions of mutations before just one cell is immune to the antibiotic. It might never happen but obviously did at some stage in the case of MRSA.

Super hygeine is ESSENTIAL so that already vulnerable ill patients with lowered immune systems don't get it transfered from other patients/nurses hands. It's not just MRSA there are millions of bacteria which might mutate into something more serious eg. e. coli, salmonella etc. The hand wipe KILLS them all.

[Twin Bee]

Linda - you write with feeling and some knowledge - but that still doesn't fully explain why some bugs get resistant to the poisons we throw at them. Of course many do get killed off but like us they are programmed to survive and reproduce. In other words they try to outsmart us. I think you are assuming all bacteria will be killed off!
I am not one for blaming medical staff for people dying in hospital or getting infections. This is because I feel as a society we can too easily get in to the victim role. There no such thing as perfect health and no such thing as perfect health care - only people wanting to be healthier and people wanting to achieve this goal by the work they do. The recent phenomena of "lets blame someone" doesn't help people very much. It is destructive and costly and it puts people off from working in the caring professions.