Replies

MRSA is serious stuff.

My own father contracted it while in the hospital and it was what ultimately led to his death. He had cancer and was hoping for a new treatment but that treatment had to be delayed due to the MRSA and the treatment he required for it (intravenous Vancomycin). He could not recieve more treatment for the cancer until the MRSA infection was "under control" but he never made it that far.

Vancomycin is an extremely powerful antibiotic that is extremely corrosive to the vascular system. He died as a result of his Jugular vein "opening up" (he bled out) which was most likely due to the long-term use of Vancomycin. (His doctor called the treatment with it a "double-edged sword" in that it could get rid of the MRSA which he needed to be able to recieve further cancer treatment but the treatment with Vancomycin could weaken his vascular system enough to kill him - mostly because of his already weakened and compromised bodily integrity).

What is even scarier about MRSA and these "super bug" Staph infections is their ability to mutate and become ever more resistant. There is now also VRSA - that is Vancomycin Resistant Staphlococcus Aureus. Nosocomial infections are one of the most serious probles facing healthcare facilities these days.

Condolences to you, your sis, your mom, your brother-in-law and the rest of your dad's family and friends.

Thanks for the work that you do and thanks for informing us about VRSA (certainly haven't heard about that one and I've been reading MRSA threads when I see them posted.).

I am so sorry to hear about your father. I teach Clinical Microbiology to Medical Laboratory Technology students and am well aware of the danger of MRSA. I recently learned that about 15% of the reported cases are now of the community acquired variety which is really scary. Once the bug becomes resistant to Vancomycin, there is really nothing they can used to treat it successfully.

There is also another Gram positive coccus, Enterococcus, that is normal in the intestine, but can cause serious infections elsewhere in the body. Many of the hospital strains of it are "VRE" - Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. A pandemic of one of these "super-bugs" poses a MUCH greater threat to civilization than does the dubious theory of global warming.

My dad headed to the hospital on Saturday after Thanksgiving in 2003. The doctors were escalating attempts to keep him oxygenated. A "hose on the nose", followed by a CPAP. By Sunday he was intubated. Tuesday the tube became "clogged" and he went without oxygen until his heart stopped. The doctors spent twenty minutes getting his heart running again. I called the hospital daily. By the week of Dec 17, the nurse informed me that they had hung a bag of Vancomycin to try to stop what they thought was an infection. That's pretty much the last resort. Everything was falling apart by Dec 17th. My mom and sister gave permission to turn off the respirator.

During the course of that treatment we learned a great deal about my dad's medical history that he had never shared. In retrospect, it appears he had Alzheimer's. The acute lung problems that killed him probably avoided years of unpleasant descent into a more serious expression of the disease. He was already shuffling, forgetting people, forgetting objects and becoming mean and irrational for no apparent reason.