Another thing to fear: Staph Infections

[jagec]

Originally posted by: Scarpozzi
I vote we panic.

I also vote we panic.

Maybe we should start a poll.

 

[Kadarin]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff
Evolution, it's a wonderful thing. Super drugs are creating super bugs.

Pfft. It's Intelligent Design! God wants us all to die from flesh-eating bacteria because we sin way too damned much.

 

[Throckmorton]

Isn't this part of God's Intelligent Design? Condemning drug resistant bacteria is blasphemous.

 

[moshquerade]

I usually don't buy into hype, but this drug resistant staph has me worried. Superbugs were inevitable with the dispensing of antibiotics like candy.

Staph infection worries close 21 Virginia schools
Wed Oct 17, 2007 1:08pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A county in southern Virginia closed its 21 schools on Wednesday to clean them to prevent the spread of a dangerous bacterial infection that killed a 17-year-old high school student, officials said.

The student died this week from a drug-resistant staph infection known as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, which has become a worrisome public health issue nationwide.

Schools in Bedford County were closed to allow officials to carry out a thorough cleaning in an effort to get rid of the bacteria responsible for these infections, according to Charles Pyle, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Education.

The two schools of a small rural district in Rappahannock County in the northern part of the state closed for a day last week for a similar cleaning due to MRSA concerns, Pyle added.

Robert Parker, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Health, said three MRSA outbreaks have been reported so far this year in the state, making 2007 no worse than prior years.

"VDH (Virginia Department of Health) considers it to be sort of ubiquitous but not a public health threat any more today than it was yesterday or the day before," Parker said.

Pyle said the state education department is encouraging school districts statewide to contact local health authorities on steps to minimize the risk of infections.

Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Tuesday showed an estimated 19,000 Americans died from MRSA in 2005, the most recent year for which figures were available, and made 94,000 seriously ill.

This was much more than previous estimates. About 85 percent were caught in a hospital or health care facility but the infection is also found in the community.

Staph bacteria typically are found on the skin or in the nose of about a third of the population, health officials said. They cause pimples or rashes but occasionally can cause severe infections in the lungs, kidneys and other organs.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 1 percent of the population carries MRSA, often with no symptoms. The CDC has no data on school closures because of MRSA infections.

In schools, staph infections are prone to spread in places like locker rooms through shared personal items like towels and athletic gear, officials said. State officials urged students and others in schools to wash their hands regularly and take other precautions like not sharing personal items.

Even MRSA infections are treatable with antibiotics but doctors need to know to use the correct drugs.

http://www.reuters.com/article.../idUSN1729913920071017

 

[bignateyk]

A friend who I went to highschool with (hadnt seen him in about 3 years) recently died from a staph infection.

He picked it up at a hospital, and was brain dead a few days later. His family pulled him off life support.

 

[aircooled]

I literally just got an email before I read this thread that one of my friends is is the hospital with MRSA. They have to operate on his finger tomorrow.

 

[StormRider]

I think we should put developing new antibiotics (instead of stuff like viagra) on a high priority list and we should stop the practice of using antibiotics like candy. Hopefully, in the future current antibiotics will work well again and we could judiciously rotate the use of them to prevent future superbugs from developing.

 

[jagec]

Originally posted by: StormRider
I think we should put developing new antibiotics (instead of stuff like viagra) on a high priority list and we should stop the practice of using antibiotics like candy. Hopefully, in the future current antibiotics will work well again and we could judiciously rotate the use of them to prevent future superbugs from developing.

Evolution dictates that they'll develop eventually, but we can VASTLY extend the useful lifetime of an antibiotic by more stringent controls. If it were possible, it would also be useful to develop some sort of antibiotic that was specific to a pathogenic strain, and didn't knock out benign bacteria. That way, even if a few of the pathogens were resistant and left alive, the combination of your immune system and competition from other bacteria would make it less likely for them to regain a foothold and take over.

 

[AbAbber2k]

ROFL, I looked at the Seattle PI this morning and in big bold letters on the front it said "MORE DEADLY THAN AIDS!?!?!?!?" (ok so there wasn't !?!?!?!? on the end). I realize this is probably a bigger deal than say... SARS... or Bird Flu... but come on... there are approximately as many Flu deaths every year as there are AIDS and Staph related deaths COMBINED (rough estimate based on said article and some quick googling/wikipedying).

Let the panic begin. :roll:

 

[michaels]

It's always something, it was SARS, then the West Nile virus, oh and mad Cow disease. I'm sure this is more.

 

[cKGunslinger]

When you have formula manufacturers pushing their wares and dissuading mothers from breastfeeding, people ordering drugs online without a real doctor's authorization, injecting every creature we eat with hormones and antibiotics, etc - these kinds of thing will tend to pop up.

 

[NanoStuff]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
When you have formula manufacturers pushing their wares and dissuading mothers from breastfeeding, people ordering drugs online without a real doctor's authorization, injecting every creature we eat with hormones and antibiotics, etc - these kinds of thing will tend to pop up.

You sound as if science raped your mother.

 

[Gibsons]

Originally posted by: jagec

Originally posted by: StormRider
I think we should put developing new antibiotics (instead of stuff like viagra) on a high priority list and we should stop the practice of using antibiotics like candy. Hopefully, in the future current antibiotics will work well again and we could judiciously rotate the use of them to prevent future superbugs from developing.

Evolution dictates that they'll develop eventually, but we can VASTLY extend the useful lifetime of an antibiotic by more stringent controls. If it were possible, it would also be useful to develop some sort of antibiotic that was specific to a pathogenic strain, and didn't knock out benign bacteria. That way, even if a few of the pathogens were resistant and left alive, the combination of your immune system and competition from other bacteria would make it less likely for them to regain a foothold and take over.

More stringent controls means less profit for the drug companies, which means they won't develop the next generation of antibiotics. It's a Catch 22.

One alternative might be to publicly fund antibiotic development, but I don't think there's much public support for it. Gotta build more bridges in Alaska.

 

[ViRGE]

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
When you have formula manufacturers pushing their wares and dissuading mothers from breastfeeding, people ordering drugs online without a real doctor's authorization, injecting every creature we eat with hormones and antibiotics, etc - these kinds of thing will tend to pop up.

It would have happened sooner or later, it's unfortunate that these things made it happen sooner though.

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: NanoStuff

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
When you have formula manufacturers pushing their wares and dissuading mothers from breastfeeding, people ordering drugs online without a real doctor's authorization, injecting every creature we eat with hormones and antibiotics, etc - these kinds of thing will tend to pop up.

You sound as if science raped your mother.

That's probably because you may very well be retarded.


Whee! Isn't posting like a stupid dick fun! :roll:

 

[cKGunslinger]

Originally posted by: ViRGE

Originally posted by: cKGunslinger
When you have formula manufacturers pushing their wares and dissuading mothers from breastfeeding, people ordering drugs online without a real doctor's authorization, injecting every creature we eat with hormones and antibiotics, etc - these kinds of thing will tend to pop up.

It would have happened sooner or later, it's unfortunate that these things made it happen sooner though.

Indeed - it was bound to happen. But I think it would have been very, very far off if we, as a society, weren't such germophobes.