[Lowell]

Where does this come from? How could this just be floating around.

[Moonman62]

Hospitals are where the germs are.

[Red Badger]

Andromeda Strain........

[hope]

I don't think they know. My son developed staph infection that had to be surgically removed from the crook of his arm...With this there
was no break in the skin anywhere that we could determine...it was in the soft tissue near the bone. Thank God it was not in the bone. He already had to spend ten days in the hospital with it in the tissue alone.

Now nearly two months later my daughter developed it in the in her gums. We think it started in the gum area where she had to have a root canal that went bad. It spread to the cuticle on her forefinger from nail biting. Now I asked the doctor if this is infectious staph. He said they did not know, but they are seeing a lot of these cases.

Tom Servo, praying that you are on the mend.

[Grizzled Bear]

Where does this come from? How could this just be floating around.
__________________________________________________________
Hospitals and nursing homes tend to breed all kinds of super bugs. I avoid doctors and hospitals when ever possible.

My wife gets annoyed when I say I can self-treat any injury with Tylenol and duct tape.

[unlearner]

"Where does this come from? How could this just be floating around."

I think it may most commonly show up as the result of powerful antibiotics. Our bodies are home to bacteria that ordinarily will not harm us, but can become dangerous due to mutations when exposed to antibiotics.

For example, some common skin rashes (e.g. impetigo) might be treated with prescription antibiotics. The patient may think they are smarter than the doctor and decide use it in a way not prescribed. Or perhaps treat an area around the mouth or nose and get some inside. (This may not result in a superbug, but it will probably do more harm than good. Any misuse of antibiotics can be dangerous, especially the more powerful ones.)

The average person is not aware that some antibiotics can be very dangerous by facilitating mutations which can be deadly.

Superbugs also develop when other resistant strains share their DNA. This is one reason they often come from hospitals. They (hospital acquired infections) cause over 100,000 deaths in the USA each year.

[deaconjim]

Thank you all for your sympathy.

My wife was a diabetic suffering from kidney failure, and was on dialysis. The disease that she had was a very rare (thankfully) condition that only affects dialysis patients, and is not bacterial in nature.