Posted on 02/22/2007 11:14:40 AM PST by blam
rp rise in suberbug death toll
By Matthew Moore and PA
Last Updated: 3:04pm GMT 22/02/2007
More patients are dying of conditions linked to the hospital superbugs MRSA and Clostridium difficile (C-diff), it was revealed today.
Between 2004 and 2005, mention of MRSA on death certificates rose by 39 per cent while mention of C-diff rose 69 per cent, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The Conservatives today described the rise as "staggering", and said the Government had failed to put in place an effective strategy for combatting the bugs.
"Labour's savage bed cuts over the past two years have allowed deaths from C-diff and MRSA to grow to this appalling level," said Andrew Lansley, the shadow health secretary.
But the health minister Lord Hunt said the rise was down to greater awareness of the infections and more rigorous recording procedures, and said that MRSA infection rates had now begun to fall.
The most recent figures from the Health Protection Agency (HPA) showed a five per cent fall in MRSA cases between April and September 2006 and the same period in 2005.
According to today's ONS figures the number of death certificates mentioning MRSA or similar viruses almost doubled between 2001 to 2005, from 1,211 to 2,083. The number of certificates mentioning C-diff trebled from 1,214 in 2001 to 3,807 in 2005.
The Government has set up a £50 million fund to help hospitals tackle C-diff, which kills three times as many as the better-known MRSA. It is often spread on the hands of staff and other people in contact with infected patients or contaminated surfaces, and is particularly dangerous to elderly patients.
Incidents of the fatal bacteria have increased sharply in recent months, and were a contributory factor in 15 deaths over two months at four hospitals in the Midlands last year.
Today's figures also reveal that twice as many men get MRSA as women, although death rates are similar. The discrepancy in infection rates could be explained by women's superior hygiene, according to health experts
ping
My brother has C-Diff and has been in and out of hospitals for the last 18 months. I just saw him over the weekend and he said that he's been on an antibiotic for that entire 18 months. I just can't imagine.
Hmmmm...I wonder if there's a similar rise here.If not,one can reasonably suspect that the limits placed on doctors,hospitals and patients by their national health laws could be to blame.
That must be awful for you and your family.
He's in Rockingham County, VA. We've never been convinced that he's gotten good medical care, but we are told that their doctors have consulted specialists in other areas.
We live in different states and rarely see each other. I saw him for the first time in a long time over the weekend. I was surprised that he was still on antibiotics. I can't begin to think that that's any good for him. But whenever they take him off of them, it returns.
It took 2 months of intravenous treatments to wipe it out.
I work in the health care field. C-diff and MRSA are or used to be primarily caused by lack of proper infection control procedures. However, I know there are more cases of MRSA arising in the general population, although this article seems to address infections due to hospital stays.
Carolyn
A link here on other FR MRSA threads.
I have been occasionally on antibiotics for various reasons, but never that long. It is not good for anybody. But if it keeps coming back, there sounds like there is no choice. Antibiotics destroy the good bacteria of the intestines. Taking a pro-biotic daily would help combat that. It is hard to know what to do when the doctors seem unable to help someone we love.
SO I've been recovering for the last 5 weeks from a bad MRSA infection...Was hosipitalized for 3 days. I still have the infection as it simply doesn't die very quickly given any type of anti-biotic.
Seems I got the infection at the gym...And in the minneapolis area this is an epidemic.
If that was my brother I'd beg him to collect his medical records,hop in the car and head right for one of the teaching affiliates of either Georgetown or George Washington University Medical School in DC.
Having worked at one of the major Harvard teaching hospitals for 20+ years I can pretty much guarantee you that an ID specialist in DC sees 50 times more cases like your brother's than does the doctor currently treating him.
And if Duke is closer to him than DC,the same would go for one of the Duke teaching hospitals.
Both my husband and I agree with you. But I don't think they even consider that they don't have the very best doctors. My sister-in-law works for one and they just think they're the best. We think they're killing him. If I have a chance, I'll suggest the teaching affiliate option. What about UVA?
Hmmm...I wonder if cases acquired "in the community" are found mainly among those with immune systems compromised by TB and/or HIV.
Although I'm sure that UVA is a fine school with fine physicians my general attitude on the general subject is...
....the finest medical schools and,thus,the finest hospitals in the country are found in or near major cities. Cities like Boston,NYC,DC,Atlanta,Chicago,San Francisco...etc.
I understand that traveling great distances for medical care is difficult.The hospital where I worked routinely treated folks from all corners of the country...and the world....so I saw it up close.But if you can travel a few hours to be treated by a physician who's a Nobel Prize winner...or who trained under a Nobel Prize winner...then my attitude is "when do we leave?".Particularly with a serious or chronic illness.
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