whats this mrsa disease?

Its a bacterial infection that is resistant to most antibiotics.

It is NOT the flu or aids, or even like them as they are caused by viruses and cannot be treated with antibiotics any way.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methicillin-resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus

Cycler6n said:

i hear its worse than aids, what is it?

Essentially it's several strains of bacteria that are not killed off by antibiotics.

Personally I think it's a rather cynical way hospital managers have found to remove long stay patients from hospitals, and hence free up beds. Some might think it harsh, but using Occams Razor, it fits.

It is a very simple problem to fix, you need more staff. You need more cleaners: little old ladies with mops, buckets and cleaning rags going around and cleaning things. Washing machines, and the people to run them, so staff uniforms are always clean. Senior nurses going around and throwing visitors out who are dirty. Staff up with enough general nurses, so they are not having to work several wards. Stop bringing in temporary staff who've been around several hospitals that week. That kind of thing. Essentially the main issue is an almost complete refusal of hospital management to employ enough cleaners to go around and clean things.

Next up, it is an inability of hospital management to provide enough cleaning products so the staff can keep things clean. In fact I've seen hospital managers berate staff for carrying little bottles of alcohol gel hand cleanser! This type of hand cleanser is thought one of the best ways of limiting transfer of the nasty.

This is in combination with some people on antibiotics failing to complete their course of medication, who perversely are the ones getting the blame for the problem.

threaded said:

Essentially it's several strains of bacteria that are not killed off by antibiotics.

Personally I think it's a rather cynical way hospital managers have found to remove long stay patients from hospitals, and hence free up beds. Some might think it harsh, but using Occams Razor, it fits.

It is a very simple problem to fix, you need more staff. You need more cleaners: little old ladies with mops, buckets and cleaning rags going around and cleaning things. Washing machines, and the people to run them, so staff uniforms are always clean. Senior nurses going around and throwing visitors out who are dirty. Staff up with enough general nurses, so they are not having to work several wards. Stop bringing in temporary staff who've been around several hospitals that week. That kind of thing. Essentially the main issue is an almost complete refusal of hospital management to employ enough cleaners to go around and clean things.

Next up, it is an inability of hospital management to provide enough cleaning products so the staff can keep things clean. In fact I've seen hospital managers berate staff for carrying little bottles of alcohol gel hand cleanser! This type of hand cleanser is thought one of the best ways of limiting transfer of the nasty.

This is in combination with some people on antibiotics failing to complete their course of medication, who perversely are the ones getting the blame for the problem.

In this part of the world, literally millions of euros have been thrown at the problem that is the medical service to no avail.
There are huge waiting lists for beds, there are too few doctors/nurses, there
is widespread cases of MRSA.
In addition we have vested interests in the form of consultants who oppose the apointment of more consultants and they recently stated that "€ 250,000.00 salaries on offere was "mickey mouse" money".
This salary doesn't include what a consultant may earn privately.

The spread of MRSA is indicative of the falling standards throughout our health service.
before control of the hospitals here was transferred to the existing authorities, many hospitals were managed by the religious orders here.
The hospitals were clean, efficient and they all ran within budget and people had no difficulty getting treatment.
Food for thought.

Viruses and bacteria mutate continually to become resistant to our technology.
Mother nature is generally a half a step ahead of us.

jhuskey said:

Viruses and bacteria mutate continually to become resistant to our technology.
Mother nature is generally a half a step ahead of us.

MRSA virus is deadly, JH.

The verdict is out at the moment as to what is the definitive cause of MRSA.
For sure, virus's do mutate and as you correctly point out Mother Nature is ahead of us.

But the MRSA scandal over here suggests that basic things like medical staff thoroughly washing their hands after treating [FONT=Arial Black]each patient[/FONT], was not being adhered to.
When rudimentary procedures are notbeing adhered to, then this leads to problems like MRSA.

limerickman said:

MRSA virus is deadly, JH.

The verdict is out at the moment as to what is the definitive cause of MRSA.
For sure, virus's do mutate and as you correctly point out Mother Nature is ahead of us.

But the MRSA scandal over here suggests that basic things like medical staff thoroughly washing their hands after treating [FONT=Arial Black]each patient[/FONT], was not being adhered to.
When rudimentary procedures are notbeing adhered to, then this leads to problems like MRSA.

That's why I stay out of hospitals.

MRSA is not a virus - it is a bacteria - staphylococcus areus to be exact. One of the reasons it is a big problem these days is the over use of antibiotics and antibacterials. It is spread by poor hygene practices, but it arose because: 1. some people run to the doctor every time they get sick and demand antibiotics, whether or not they have a bacterial infection (colds and flu are viral - antibiotics have NO effect on them, accept perhaps placebo effect.... It is possible to develop a bacterial infection - like pneumonia or sinusitis - from having a viral infection - like cold or flu - because congested phlegmy tissue is a great breeding ground for bacteria - yellow/white phlegm usually means virus - green, good possibility of bacterial infection) 2. many countries have an over use of antibiotics in their farming practices - they medicate animals sick or not so that they can have overcrowded and unhygenic conditions without the animals succumbing 3. Seems like every product you see these days for cleaning comes in an anitbacterial formula - use of antibacterial handsoaps, wipes etc. encourages the bacteria to mutate faster and isn't any more effective than washing with plain soap and water! If you really feel you must "sterilize" something use a mild solution of bleach and water.

Some viruses on the other hand are pretty good mutaters no matter what we do.... that is why you continue to get colds even though you've had one before. Your body makes anti-bodies to viruses you've already been exposed to (which is why vaccinations work, and why you only get the chicken pox once - Chicken Pox is a very stable virus, as is Polio, and all the other things you get your childhood vaccinations for), but cold viruses are many and master mutators. Flu virus can also go through changes, but a little slower than colds, so we do have flu vacccines, but you have to get a flu shot each year, because its already changed from the last. AIDS is also a good mutator, which makes developing a vaccine a challenge.

How do you get it?

Cycler6n said:

How do you get it?

In large general hospitals where broadspectrum antibiotics are widely used. The longer you stay in such a hospital, the higher your chance of catching it. Of course, handwashing by health professionals and general hygiene is also important.

So minimize the length of your stay is a priority. In the community, these multi-resistant staphs just get over taken by non-resistant strains. They die! 😄

uh, eden. i just got over a nasty little cold and found the item on phlegm colouration curious. is there a reason why viral phlegm is yellow/white and the bacterial variety green? what's the body doing to give this palette to the stuff i was hacking up?

slovakguy said:

uh, eden. i just got over a nasty little cold and found the item on phlegm colouration curious. is there a reason why viral phlegm is yellow/white and the bacterial variety green? what's the body doing to give this palette to the stuff i was hacking up?

Its the bacteria that is living in the phlegm usually gives it the nasty color. Normal stuff that your body produces is the sort of white/cream/pale yellow stuff. If its any other color, green, orange, dark yellow, bloody! you can pretty well suspect you have a bacterial infection.

slovakguy said:

uh, eden. i just got over a nasty little cold and found the item on phlegm colouration curious. is there a reason why viral phlegm is yellow/white and the bacterial variety green? what's the body doing to give this palette to the stuff i was hacking up?

Its the bacteria that is living in the phlegm that usually gives it the nasty color. Normal stuff that your body produces is the sort of white/cream/pale yellow stuff. If its any other color, green, orange, dark yellow, bloody! you can pretty well suspect you have a bacterial infection.

sogood said:

In large general hospitals where broadspectrum antibiotics are widely used. The longer you stay in such a hospital, the higher your chance of catching it. Of course, handwashing by health professionals and general hygiene is also important.

So minimize the length of your stay is a priority. In the community, these multi-resistant staphs just get over taken by non-resistant strains. They die! 😄

Oh great, my sister works in a hospital, but she stays clean, hope she don't get nothing. Do you know if theres a cure?

Cycler6n said:

Oh great, my sister works in a hospital, but she stays clean, hope she don't get nothing. Do you know if theres a cure?

MRSA don't infect normal healthy people. Health workers may become carriers for MRSA, becoming part of their commensal, but there's no clinical effect on them. The problem with MRSA carriers is that they can pass on the bacteria to those who are susceptible ie. Patients. So from time to time, the hospital would take nasal swabs to screen for MRSA carriers and treat accordingly.