At Risk to Superbug Infections
Recently we were advised of the outbreak of bug infections at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH). The BU family was enlightened by a presentation Understanding Why Bacteria Are Present at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) shared by resident medical expert Dr. GP. Contrary to popular view fighting bacteria is a struggle for all hospitals although some are able to to do a better job than others.
This is a matter that continues to concern BU because those most vulnerable to bacteria who are admitted at the QEH are our young; the future of the country, and senior citizens; the wise and knowledgeable of the land. The sad thought that the QEH continues to be mired in partisan political nothingness is a big disappointment. Slashing health budgets without careful consideration to the ramification of minimizing risks posed by antibiotic-resistant infections needs to be more widely communicated to the public.
Happy Easter!
How to avoid deadly superbug infections in the hospital
2015-02-20 – General Health
Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where an outbreak has occurred, did not do well in our hospital Ratings
The outbreak of a deadly antibiotic-resistant infection at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, which has already led to two deaths and seven infections, is a stark reminder of the risks patients face every time they enter a hospital.
An estimated 650,000 patients per year in the U.S. develop an infection while in the hospital, and almost 75,000 die as a result, suggests research from the national Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And our hospital Ratings find that many hospitals, including Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, don’t do a good job of preventing those infections.
In fact, in our most recent hospital Ratings, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center got our second lowest-rating in preventing infections. And only about 13 percent of hospitals, or about 350 nationwide, got our highest overall infection Rating (see the chart below).
Here’s what you need to know about three common hospital-acquired infections, including Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which is the infection implicated in the recent outbreak, as well as Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and Clostridium difficile (c. difficile).
Carbapenem-resistant enterobacteriaceae
Patients at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center were exposed to this bacterium during endoscopic procedures between October 2014 and January 2015, the university said. The CDC considers CRE to be one of the deadliest that develop in hospitals because it’s resistant to most known antibiotics. The bacteria can cause infections of the bladder or lungs, leading to coughing or chills. CRE infections have been reported in every state except Idaho, Alaska, and Maine. The infection was responsible for the deaths of 610 people in 2013.
Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus
MRSA is also resistant to several antibiotics. The infection was linked to 11,000 deaths in 2011, though rates have declined since then. The infections often develop during or after surgery, or can be traced to urinary catheters or central-line catheters, which are used to provide intravenous nutrition, fluid, and medication to seriously ill hospital patients. So health care workers must wash their hands before they put on their sterile gloves and touch catheters. Urinary catheters should also be removed as soon as possible; the longer one stays in, the greater the risk of infection.
Clostridium difficile
C. difficile spreads when someone with contaminated hands touches a medical device, or someone touches a contaminated surface, then their mouth, eyes, or nose. It has become common in part because of the overuse of antibiotics, which kill good bacteria in the gut, allowing C. diff to take hold. Controlling that centers on vigorous hand washing, which is needed to physically break down a hard shell that forms around the bacterium. Yet a recent Consumer Reports survey found that many health care providers don’t do that. About 20 percent of patients develop hard-to- treat infections; 14,000 patients per year die as a result. Taking probiotics might also help prevent the infections.
U.S. hospitals that earned our top marks in preventing infections
The 37 hospitals listed below are the only ones in the country that got our highest Rating in preventing surgical-site infections, central-line infections, and infections stemming from urinary catheters. (Data is from April 2012 to March 2013.)
- Alhambra Hospital Medical Center, Alhambra, Ca.
- Boulder Community Hospital, Boulder, Col.
- Florida Hospital North Pinellas, Tarpon Springs, Fla.
- Florida Hospital Zephyrhills, Zephyrhills, Fla.
- Parrish Medical Center, Titusville, Fla.
- Saint Alphonsus Medical Center – Nampa, Nampa, Idaho
- Alton Memorial Hospital, Alton, Ill.
- Morris Hospital & Healthcare Centers, Morris, Ill.
- Saint Anthony’s Health Center, Alton, Ill.
- St. Mary’s Hospital, Centralia, Ill.
- Franciscan St. Anthony Health – Michigan City, Michigan City, Ind.
- Reid Hospital and Health Care Services, Richmond, Ind.
- Salina Regional Health Center, Salina, Kan.
- St. Claire Regional Medical Center, Morehead, Ken.
- Beverly Hospital, Beverly, Mass.
- Holy Family Hospital and Medical Center, Methuen, Mass.
- Saint Anne’s Hospital, Fall River, Mass.
- Metro Health Hospital, Wyoming, Mich.
- Community Medical Center, Missoula, Mont.
- Central Carolina Hospital, Sanford, N.C.
- Stanly Regional Medical Center, Albemarle, N.C.
- Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, Santa Fe, N.M.
- Centennial Hills Hospital Medical Center, Las Vegas, Nev.
- Health Alliance Hospital – Broadway Campus, Kingston, N.Y.
- Hudson Valley Hospital Center, Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.
- Atrium Medical Center, Middletown, Ohio
- Lima Memorial Health System, Lima, Ohio
- St. John Medical Center, Westlake, Ohio
- McAlester Regional Health Center, McAlester, Okla.
- Adventist Medical Center-Portland, Portland, Ore.
- Delaware County Memorial Hospital, Drexel Hill, Penn.
- Jameson Hospital, New Castle, Penn.
- McLeod Loris Seacoast Hospital, Loris, S.C.
- TriStar Hendersonville Medical Center, Hendersonville, Tenn.
- Dallas Regional Medical Center, Mesquite, Texas
- Hunt Regional Medical Center, Greenville, Texas
- San Angelo Community Medical Center, San Angelo, Texas
—Joel Keehn
Barbados Underground 
Pingback: At Risk to Superbug Infections
Happy Easter.
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While I recognise that these superbug infections can occur at any hospital, I believe because of the cutbacks in financing at QEH we are seeing an unusually high rate there. Put simply, QEH is a nasty place. Too many people have died because the place resembles a cesspool.
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simly ut ..Super bugs spread in environments where bacteria thrives,, some barbadians becomes hoarders for filth and have also attributed to the more than normal strain of super bugs being experienced on the island ,,govt can throw all the money they want to contain but unless the citizens understand their role in the growth of such bugs these bugs will continue to grow at rapid speeds within and out of the medical environment and carried air borne with great strength
Cigarettes makes superbugs stronger
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/04/04/cigarette-smoke-makes-superbugs-even-stronger/25287915/
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@ Caswell
Superbugs have little to do with traditional nastiness or even financial cutbacks at the hospital. They develop as a result of the excessive use of antibiotics and other stuff designed to kill the regular bugs. Happens in the “cleanest”, best funded hospitals.
When improperly or incompletely used, the strongest of the bugs survive and then these are again incompletely destroyed by antibiotic treatments allowing the strongest of these to survive and even thrive…. eventually, the surviving bugs are so strong that they begin to use the antibiotics as appetisers and antiperspirants….and we can only kill them by burying the human victims.
The joke is that these superbugs usually develop in compromised persons who would have normally died anyway – without the regular treatment for infections that lead to the development of the superbugs.
Later, when an otherwise health individual arrive at hospital with a damaged toe nail, and catches the superbug, …..dog dead boss…!
This is a lesson in regular life as well.
Rather than call a spade a spade, our modern society finds excuses for all kinds of idiots and makes “provision” for these compromised individuals.
…fellows that REFUSE to look for work – we find housing and food for them.
…women who refuse to control their lives – we take care of them and their 12 children
…fathers who refuse to support their children we slap in the wrists…
…those who can’t resist the lure of drugs, we pay to rehabilitate them.
…Complete idiots like AC ….we give them a government job.
Welfare is our overused antibiotic.
…..and we have also developed some superbugs too….. People who don’t just wait on state welfare now – they TAKE whatever the hell they want….. Fellows like Parris, Thompson, Thornhill, Carr-way-a-ton and a whole host of others…
Wunna see how DIFFICULT it is to deal with those superbugs…? (except for the one we buried)…. The damn things are IMMUNE to traditional treatments like public shame, police action, the courts…. even prison……and UNLESS DRASTIC actions are taken, they will be the death of us all….
Those that have eyes to see will understand.
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Isn’t QEH the same institution which our Prime Minister spoke so glowing of at the recent 50th Anniversary reception?
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What we need is for our public officials to be open with communication and the vulnerable groups who are able to avoid the QEH must do so. The practice of dumping our senior citizens at the QEH appears to be a death sentence in the prevailing state.o
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Bushie
I beg to differ. When the hospital needed cleaning, they did not provide the chemicals necessary to do the job. Instead, they bought cheaper substitutes that only perfumed the bugs away. As a result, the bugs got stronger and stronger.
I recall going to the hospital two years ago to see a man that was on his deathbed. They had called the family to see him for the last. While there a maid came into the ward (B6) with a mop bucket full of already dirty water. She soaked the mop in the dirty water that she brought from elsewhere, squeezed it out and mopped an entire section without soaking the mop again. I believe that she was just spreading germs, including the superbugs, around. The man died from one of those hospital acquired infections.
Sent from my iPad
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one would have to be a retard not to know that cleaning a room with dirty water can spread germs, now that is also part of the problem employees who could not care less all they know is they are owed a job, but cannot tell the difference between dirty water and clean but insist on having a job, ,now must the govt find funds to educate these morons who take up space and time at taxpayers expense and cant do their job.
In my opinion the hospital seems to be in dire need of a total disinfecting starting with some of the free loaders (employees) who cant spell or see dirty from clean.
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@ ac April 5, 2015 at 7:25 PM
“one would have to be a retard not to know that cleaning a room with dirty water can spread germs, now that is also part of the problem employees who could not care less all they know is they are owed a job, but cannot tell the difference between dirty water and clean but insist on having a job…”
So you are again looking for easy targets to blame for the poor state of public sanitation in Barbados. Yes, go ahead and attack the cleaners, the maids and the cooks for the state of the QEH. The obese supernumerary management is not to blame; just the poor lowly workers who have not been given a pay increase for years and scarcely have other sources of income, unlike the doctors and administrators responsible for ensuring the hospital is kept as clean as possible.
When you cut back a hospital budget by 20% with the large salaries for the big boys fixed what do you expect?
What areas would suffer most, retard ac?
Don’t you expect germs would multiply where conditions conducive to their existence are allowed to develop? Don’t you think the large buildup of garbage all over the place overrun with bush and detritus would create the ideal breeding grounds for the carriers of dangerous germs and viruses? Why do you think there is an explosion in the rat population in Barbados especially in Bridgetown and its environs?
What are you waiting for before you pay serious attention to the state of public hygiene? An outbreak of the cholera or the plague?
Next on the plate could be a serious case of food poisoning or some other infectious event at the Oistins Bay Garden. Germs know no colour and only keep friends with dirty people.
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LOL @ Caswell
Boss…. take a hint from the fact that AC seems to be saying the same thing that you are….
Superbugs have nothing to do with cleanliness. It is all about POLICY….. the policy of dispensing antibiotics left, right and centre…. Using them as PREVENTATIVE measures in agriculture, and generally mis-using them.
The natural process sees both beneficial and harmful bacteria co-existing, but the antibiotics kill off both….resulting in the REALLY bad boys taking over the shop….
LOL …somewhat like the current DLP… 🙂
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@Bush T
Wunna see how DIFFICULT it is to deal with those superbugs…? (except for the one we buried)…. The damn things are IMMUNE to traditional treatments like public shame, police action, the courts…. even prison……and UNLESS DRASTIC actions are taken, they will be the death of us all….
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Referring to superbugs (not the ones that that you are alluding to) but examples like C difficile which have sprung up periodically up North especially in retirement homes and health institutions where elderly patients are grouped together and exact in heavy toll on those who are unlucky to be affected. There may be some variant on cruise ships where people eat in common areas or open doors through touching of door knobs etc.
I hope that your Easter dinner is long past but one solution which is still in the trial stage is “poop therapy” where fecal bacteria is transferred from healthy individuals to affected patients. Most people will cringe at the thought but it has saved lives so ”wuh en catch yuh en pass yuh”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_bacteriotherapy
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Shiite man Sarge….. is that not a bit extreme? 😦
MUCH simpler to avoid the damn antibiotics where ever possible; avoid the lotta shiite food -especially meats – that are “manufactured using hormones and antibiotics, and eat natural stuff which PROMOTE probiotics…..
LOL….else wuh sweeten goat mouth will definitely bun he tail….
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@ Bush Tea April 5, 2015 at 9:05 PM
“MUCH simpler to avoid the damn antibiotics where ever possible; avoid the lotta shiite food -especially meats – that are “manufactured using hormones and antibiotics, and eat natural stuff which PROMOTE probiotics…..”
Well said Bushie! Especially the meats earmarked for dog food production and zoos but shipped third world tropical countries with large black populations where huge profits can be obtained. Black people are not designed (evolved LOL!!) to consume large amounts of animal flesh. Just look at their teeth and see.
Do you really feel refrigeration alone could keep meat from spoiling while being transported to third world countries in the tropics? The same chemicals and processes used to keep human cadavers from putrefying are used to keep animal flesh from smelling and decaying.
Why would a Bajan eat an old sheep of mutton killed 1 year ago in New Zealand when a black belly lamb freshly killed would be the healthier option?
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Bush Tea April 5, 2015 at 8:46 PM #
Superbugs have nothing to do with cleanliness.
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what a load of horse dung coming from this retard mouth never heard or read such insipid nonsense
the fact is that super bugs are multiple strains of bacteria that can fool and duplicate many times over to look like any other form of bacteria making it hard to treat or identify it source can be related to human plants or animals or any living organism that penetrates or lives within our environment, its breeding mechanism is rapid and can not be easily traced or control.
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@Miller
Black people are not designed (evolved LOL!!) to consume large amounts of animal flesh. Just look at their teeth and see
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I thought that among my African ancestors were hunter gatherers now you’ve gone and burst that bubble, I gotta rewrite that part of my history to agrarian read… colonization and domestication of plants, farming and agriculture.
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@ Sargeant
The problem is with old dead food – loaded with chemicals….. that applies to practically ALL non organic food nowadays.
@ AC April 5, 2015 at 9:57 PM
LOL ha ha ha
ya jackass….. can’t you see big people talking…?! 🙂
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Here is a presentation of the science to support the discussion compliments of Dr. GP. Click on the image.
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Are We back to tricks again?
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……another casualty of Damm Egrunt Morons placing a unthought-of X. Bus riding ole wuman pensioner in D pre-elections Ad….bet they din tell bout all des tings. Better doan step pun nah rusty nail or get ptomaine from drinkin warm-ova Black Bird soup now…..cuz dat means a QEH Death Certificate yuh hear!
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@BT
The problem is with old dead food – loaded with chemicals….. that applies to practically ALL non organic food nowadays.
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I agree with a previous point you made about antibiotics, too many people are over medicated, but as you are only consuming fresh organic meat and produce and avoiding all petrified/mummified chemical laden animal protein what do the animals that produce “organic” meat eat? Freshly grown grass or “‘food’ produced by the local manufacturer? What is in that animal food? Have you toured the local plant and compiled a list of the ingredients? How does the “organic” produce get to your table? Is the farmer watching it 24/7 to keep away the pests or is he spraying some other “organic” material to keep the birds from crapping all over it and the grubs from feasting on it? The very soil that the fresh grass is grown on is full of chemicals some good and some bad and all of them are absorbed in the grass and ultimately to ourselves. What about the dolphin that you love to see on your table? Are they not full of mercury and other poisons that are dumped in the ocean? We are at the end of the food chain and science is either helping us or hurting us but I vote for the former. The “pure” water from our taps is treated with chemicals before it reaches the end of the faucet, left alone it would be unpalatable and unhealthy.
Rather than avoid some things, I prefer everything in moderation food included, the “organic” bandwagon is just another fad that people jump on, recently while perusing the food aisles of the supermarket I came across “organic” bananas sold at a premium over the non -organic bananas. My experience with bananas is that the plant will grow and produce fruit and it doesn’t require much attention except water so how do we get organic bananas? Our ancestors ate “organic” foods and their life expectancy was probably less than 50 years.
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@ Sargeant
As in all things, one does the best that one can in the circumstances. You can eat everything in moderation, and you will probably catch every disease in moderation.
However you will likely have a moderate medical insurance plan …so that some doctor will be able to benefit with a Mercedes thanks to you at the appropriate time.
Some others use the “seefood” approach, eating every shiite they see ..and then submit themselves to the QEH in an effort to extend their lives past 40.
..yet others are very picky – avoiding any risks – and they succumb to stress from worrying about what could kill them….
The POINT is…. We are ALL going to die… However, wise choices in the process of living this temporary life usually reflects a wise approach to the MORE IMPORTANT aspects of our existence….
Indeed, EVERYTHING in this physical life REFLECTS the components of the CRITICAL spiritual realities that life is about in the first place….
So it really matters very little what food you eat physically…..but it DOES matter the spiritual things that you are able to digest…..
As Jesus said, It is not what you eat that makes you unclean. It is actually what comes OUT of the mouth (from the heart/mind/character/spirit). Matt 11:15
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Postpartum Group A Streptococcus Sepsis and Maternal Immunology
Katie L. Mason1 and David M. Aronoff. Am J Reprod Immunol. 2012 Feb; 67(2): 91–100. Published online 2011 Oct 24. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0897.2011.01083.x
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3253187/
“Globally, puerperal infections cause morbidity in 5-10% of all pregnant women with over 75,000 DEATHS each year…despite efforts to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goal 5 (improve maternal health), the maternal mortality ratio has not improved and infections are an important reason…The past two decades have witnessed an unexplained increase in severe postpartum Group A Streptococcus infections, resulting in greater numbers of maternal deaths worldwide. This reemergence has placed a new urgency to better understand the host-microbial determinants of disease that might be targeted for improving preventive and therapeutic measures.”
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@Sargeant April 6, 2015 at 9:05 AM “My experience with bananas is that the plant will grow and produce fruit and it doesn’t require much attention except water so how do we get organic bananas?”
It is easy to organically grow a few bananas in the backyard, but the large scale commercial growing of bananas, the kind of bananas which we all eat every day is something else…maybe my friend who is the daughter of a (dead from cancer) banana farmer can tell you how bananas and all other commercially produced food is really produced.
Oh brave new world.
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millertheanunnaki April 5, 2015 at 9:36 PM #
Black people are not designed (evolved LOL!!) to consume large amounts of animal flesh.
…………………………………………………….
I was only a few years old , when I kicked up a fuss because the piece of pork on my dinner plate still had on a few stand of hair. I was admonished by my mother,not knowing what she meant, with ” you don’t want it now, wait till ya get big.”
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New breed of superbugs which are resistant to antibiotics could kill 80,000 Britons in one outbreak as scientists warn even catching flu could have ‘serious’ impact
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3026963/New-breed-superbugs-resistant-antibiotics-kill-80-000-Britons-one-outbreak-scientists-warn-catching-flu-impact.html#ixzz3WXs1eiHR
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3026963/New-breed-superbugs-resistant-antibiotics-kill-80-000-Britons-one-outbreak-scientists-warn-catching-flu-impact.html
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This super bug threat should be getting more airplay.
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I am really amazed at some of these comments. The prevalence of bacteria in the hospital has nothing to do with cutbacks or uncleanliness. Bacteria is found in hospitals around the world but in the QEH situation, I believe that we are hearing more about these infections because of the continuing surveillance within the hospital by the Consultant for infectious diseases and his team. They are able to pick up infections quite easily because of the systems that they have in place. Another reason as mentioned in one of the comments could be some patients resistance to antibiotics. By the way, are any of you aware that the same bacteria could be found in our communities.
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Superbugs are everywhere…..
http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2015/04/05/beloved-brampton-teacher-mourned-by-students-and-loved-ones.html
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@ush Tea April 5, 2015 at 3:14 PM “…women who refuse to control their lives – we take care of them and their 12 children.”
CORRECTION: men and women who refuse to control their lives…\
because I know that any good bushman knows about the birds and the bees, and no woman can get herself pregnant 12 times, or even once…so remind the fellas to keep their pants zips up, and the other business down.
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@ Simple Simon
Technically you are right….
But when last did you see one of the wutless, lazy, good-for-nothing men with 8 children holding on to his shirt while he worried about what they would eat for supper?
Foolishness ain’t sense…
…wise women would watch out for what the wutless wicked wretches want….
Added to that, the shitty authorities bout here can’t even enforce bicycle lights far less make fathers do their duty…..
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many years ago, i went to get an operation on my right knee,@ the QEH, I was so scared when i saw the roof of the operating theater, the room was warm, i i got the operation postponed & had it done in Cuba, in a very cold & super clean room ,( maybe we should bring back the Cubans instead of chasing them away, because they will do operations (FREE of cost) I spent 3 wonderful months in one of their first class hospitals(in Havana)getting out of this world treatment, @ NO COST All the surgeons & the QEH want is money, & more money, they charged me starting price $65,000;00 (Cuba FREE)
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thank you very much for the post, (I really appreciate it) wishing you all, Health & prosperity for 2018.!
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I don’t really know what is my position with ( world Press) , I being told this & that cant happen, because !never the less I look forward to hearing from you in my e-mail, (greg777norville@gmail.com)
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