The Claim: Stepping on a Rusty Nail Can Cause Tetanus

NY Times ^ | February 22, 2005 | ANAHAD O'CONNOR

[neverdem]

It's MRSA, not MSRA, which is short for Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. It was just a nosocomial infection, i.e. confined to hospitals. Now it's in the community mainly due to the overuse and misuse of the penicillin class of antibiotics.

[neverdem]

My granddaughter went to the doc for a bite on a finger from a horse. Doc recommended tetanus. Daughter called U of Iowa Vet school who said horses immunized against tetanus cannot be carriers. Daughter advises Doc who, in checking her own sources, agreed. This was more than a little discouraging.

Why so? The doc checked her own resources and agreed. Are docs supposed to be infallible? The amount of medical information is expanding exponentially. Depending on your granddaughter's age, she may have been due a tetanus booster. That's why they want to give a tetanus booster almost anytime someone goes to an emergency room with anything more than a superficial laceration.

I bolded "cannot" because I was taught that you never say never in medicine. The advice assumed that the horse was immunized, and that the horse had a normal immune system.

[djf]

There was a show about the history of penicillin on PBS. A clinic in Florida was testing various molds and spores, then they found this strange blue mold that seemed to inhibit bacteria.

Either the sample got lost, or it wasn't very strong, whatever, they started to request oranges from around the world looking for the mold.

No luck. It was lost.

Then, one of the guys was walking around in downtown Miami or whereever, and stopped at a fruit stand.

One of the oranges had this funky blue mold on it. It was what they were looking for.
Penicillin has saved millions of lives.

[MamaLucci]

ping

[jammer]

I thought that's what I said in 13.

[neverdem]

I thought that's what I said in 13.

Is MRSA the same as MSRA? Does Methicllin Staphylococcus Resistant Aureus make sense?

You don't have to be hospitalized to catch it now. It used to found only in hospitals.

[jammer]

Oops. 'scuse me. I should have said I posted that in 19 (in response to 13. Same words you used, BTW, later. Plagiarism? (grin)

Right. It's MRSA, however, not MSRA. Methicillin-resistant Staph Aureus. Big, bad problem. And not only in hospitals. Some nursing homes are real problems.