Good news for germaphobes

With so many infections and viruses out there, parents are starting to worry about their children in schools, whether they are elementary school kids or college students in dorms. After reading an article about methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MSRA), these people can put their fears to rest about a killer outbreak and their kids getting sick. MSRA is largely confined to hospital settings and not so much in community based settings. A 10 year study shows that the rate of these infections are decreasing within the common public.

MSRA is an antibiotic resistant strain of bacteria. It's no wonder we have so many higher occurrences of infections that deal with MSRA because antibiotics are being prescribed so often. Even if a doctor prescribes the right medication for the right infection, people often abuse the medication or don't take the full prescribed course. Working in a pharmacy I try to make it clear to customers getting azithromycin that they have to take the full amount in the right period of time. These days bacteria are mutating and resisting the medications. I also hate when doctors are prescribing for something that is viral because antibiotics do not work on those so it just gives the bacteria a chance to get used to the antibiotics.

From 1997-2007 the study showed that the infections among the ICU patients and has dropped 50%. Although it has decreased with ICU patients, the overall rate within the hospital has increased by 26%. Nearly 64% of staph infections of ICU patients can be traced to MSRA. So if a patient has a catheter and gets a bacterial infection, it will most likely involve MSRA. To keep the infections at bay the hospitals have come up with better techniques for inserting catheters and they have also cut down the leave-in time for catheters. The ICU patients need the most care when it comes to germs and I am glad to hear overall the rate of infections are decreasing.

-Katie Cyr (week 2)

Update:

Some more good news, severe MSRA is not common. It typically hits people with weak immune symptoms that visit the hospital setting often. You are more likely to catch other bugs more easily rather than MSRA. Like I said, most ICU patients get it because they are usually recovering from serious bodily trauma. There are more ways MSRA can enter their body because of all the tubes. This bacteria lives in your nose most of the time so it's unusual that you get seriously infected out of the blue. It needs to be transferred into an open wound to cause more damage.

I think the only thing that the hospitals can do is to keep up with regular hygiene. No matter what you do, you will get infected with something. We don't live in plastic bubbles and I don't think people will want to. Just remember, keep washing your hands, cover your wounds, don't share personal items like towels or razors, avoid hot tubs if you have an open sore, etc. Most of this stuff is common sense though so if you take care of yourself your chances of getting this is slim to none. So go enjoy yourself and don't worry about all the inevitable harmless bugs out there.