Replies to '04/01 The Superbug'

After this show I will be even more vigilant than I am with my handwashing/"foaming". I have a good knowledge of MRSA but hearing about the child that died made me cry.

In the ER I see patients EVERY day that come in with "spider bites" that are infected. Many of these people are touching them while describing their problem. I ask them if they have been "messing with" the wounds and most say yes. Many have been trying to incise/drain at home with needles and who know what. So their hands with the bacteria are who knows where in the community. I am frequently told the whole family has it and they don't know why...........duh! These same people are coming in and visiting people in the hospital.

Hospital acquired MRSA is rampant as you all know now. At our hospital anyone that has it has their chart "tagged". Next time they are admitted they go into isolation until they have three (I think) clear swabs from their nose, axilla and groin. It is hard on the families, especially to have to gown up to visit their loved ones, especially the elderly.

We have foam containers outside all of the rooms in our ER. When a patient comes into me with  an abscess the first thing I do is give them some foam for their hands and some for me (a little foaming party) before I put my hands or equipment on them. They are sitting in the waiting room, their infected kids running around touching everything; you get the picture.

A lot of the patients we see with Community Acquired MRSA are the uninsured; they of course can't see a primary doctor and are usually pretty bad when they come to us because of the cost. So they have been out spreading it for quite a while., living in cramped quarters, many are hygiene challenged. I have said for 30 years that there should be "hygiene stamps" (like food stamps) That is one of the last thing people with little money can purchase.

Here is a question for you..................in studies of handwashing in the hospitals who is the worst about washing their hands between patients and procedures?  Surprise, surprise it is the Physicians. They go from patient to patient, carrying charts, touching the patients.

If you are in the hospital ask your nurse or Dr. ......did you foam or wash your hands before coming in to see me? Don't be embarrassed...just do it. Your life may depend on it. I might even refuse anyone's touch if they were not wearing gloves!!

All that school cleaning is impressive but it only lasts until the next person comes by and leaves more bacteria on the clean area. I guess we need time released cleaning agents.

I must say I was disappointed to see Dr. Sears palpating that child's wound with an ungloved hand-yuk. I am guessing (hoping) it was healed but it was still creepy to see.

We human beings have done this to ourselves by our demands for antibiotics for every sniffle and not finishing the ones prescribed.

Foam out people!