Posted on 01/22/2006 9:01:44 AM PST by WestTexasWend
My husband's minor elbow surgery turned into a nightmare when he got it.
10 additional surgeries and 42 days in the hospital.
Much better outcome for him than this poor woman...thank goodness.
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3867/is_200311/ai_n9325078
http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3867/is_200409/ai_n9453467
Wasn't there an outbreak of this in Ecuador or one other South American country? I may have this confused with the one in Hati a couple of decades ago.
Just a word to the wise, you do not have to have been in a medical setting to catch Strep A. My father-in-law thought he was having gout in his foot. It wasn't; it was Strep A. He lost a section of the top part of his foot which was repaired with plastic surgery, and he almost lost his life. He was admitted to a hospital within days of onset. It was finally brought under control in week 3. No one is sure how it started. They theorize an insect bite became infected.
bump
My understanding of necrotizing fasciitis is that it responds well to antibiotics if they are given early. This is where the hospital needs to explain why this wasn't diagnosed earlier or, why it wasn't suspected and treated with antibiotics just as a precaution.
This is much different than CA-MRSA which is a super staph bug that is resistant to antibiotics and kills one in four who get a severe case. The problem with CA-MRSA is that by time they identify the bug, it's too late for the patient.
Actually, necrotizing fasciitis does not respond well to abx, it is difficult to get good levels in the devitalized (dead) tissues. Primary treatment is surgical to remove the dead tissue, then antibiotics can be given. Usually a large amount of tissue has to be removed.
On the other hand, resistant staph is always suspected in hospital infections, and treatment is begun in most cases before the cultures are even back. This infection is often cured with appropriate treatment, the exception is in the patient that is already morbidly ill or has a compromised immune system.
There are more abx in the pipeline, one was recently released.
Actually a bug called VRE or vancomycin resistant enterococcus worries me more. MRSA has been around for years, and when resistant to vancomycin (which is becoming more common) it can usually be treated with a combination of drugs
Every hospital carefully tracks the antibiotic resistance in their institution, so initial treatment of infection varies widely based on what bugs you have growing in your hospital.
---Very sad indeed. My heart goes out to her.
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