Posted on 01/06/2018 8:18:18 PM PST by bitt
CRE - it’s a nasty bugger..
#1 way to stop the spread of disease in hospitals? Hand washing. I have never seen a RN and rarely a MD wash their hands before an examination. I also wonder how often that stethoscope is scrubbed, along with the BP cuffs.
Thanks for the ping/post. Health/life BUMP!
I have been thinking about this a lot. So many scientific & medical journals have come out & said simple hand washing would save so many lives & prevent so many infections. HAND WASHING!!!!
Like you said I cannot remember a time that a doctor or nurse has washed up upon entering the room & before touching me. It really is appalling. Also we are often immunity deficient when we go to the doctor making us even more vulnerable to germs & bacteria. Why the hell are we put at risk like this?
Great post!!! Maybe a medical professional can answer your question.
In my little, backward rural town in SW Oregon my GP always washes his hands when he enters the room.
Think about getting a flu shot. The nurse comes in with a tray that has a sterile cloth on it, with the syringe with sterile cap, alcohol wipes and a bandaid. Yet does the nurse wash up before putting on gloves? Did they wash before preparing the tray? Simple law of sterility teaches that once something non-sterile touches a sterile surface the entire object is contaminated.
I also do not like it that I have had doctors not wear gloves when doing an external exam in certain areas. One little bit of bacteria under the fingernail and it could spread to every other patient he sees that day.
You've never heard of CRE before ? You're not alone !
CRE = carbapenemase-producing carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CP-CRE)
CRE have been dubbed "nightmare" bacteria because they are resistant to most antibiotics and spread easily from person to person in hospital settings.
Transmission appears to be lower in more rural healthcare facilities, but that could reflect either failure to report the incidence, or, failure to test for the disease.
Invasive CRE infections can be severe and deadly in critically ill patients, with mortality rates as high as 50%.
More often, however, patients identified as CRE carriers are asymptomatic.
But these colonized patients can still transmit the organism to other patients.
(See the original news source listed for more information about CRE and the ease of transmission, especially in a hospital setting)
Hat Tip to bitt !
They use a lot of that stuff called Purell to kill the germs but I remember reading that stuff only has a limited positive effect as compared to washing hands.
On the other hand (pun intended) medical people couldn’t possibly wash their hands 40 times a day without their skin cracking which would open them up to all kinds of nasties. I guess using rubber gloves is an option or maybe alternating between the Purell and washing hands being mindful of the patient. Some need to be handled differently for obvious reasons.
CRE includes the genre CPE, but most CRE are not CPE.
CPE is such a big problem because the means of resistance are transmissible to other bacteria of the same family.
I work at a hospital (IT Staff), and I can tell you that hand washing is an almost compulsive behavior among the staff that are in direct contact with patients. Hand sanitizer has replaced soap and water in most applications. PPE and soap and water are mandatory in cases where the patient is in isolation for whatever reason.
I can tell you that after being around some patients (like the guy with MRSA AND drug resistant TB) you feel like dunking your entire body in sanitizer, taking a steaming shower, then toweling off with the purple top wipes they use to sanitize equipment (not for human use). Sometimes I really dislike my job.
Scroll down for the KPC-producing chart. Every state but Idaho. Yikes.
Hand sanitizer is more effective than hand washing.
They do wash hands and wear gloves routinely in most states. CA and NY may be exceptions.
They wash hands and wear gloves routinely. And here’s a really big one, most infectious agents are brought in by patients; now, are you ready for this— Because hospitals are collecting points for sick people.
With diseased patients collecting in hospitals, it is impossible to sterilize them and the environment. Why don’t you propose putting the entire operation in an autoclave, along with all the patients before they are allowed in.
Common sense is not common to most of the public. Most people simply don’t understand that hospitals are collection points for sick people.
steamed people. Soilent red?
But environmental cultures also identified CP-CRE on an emergency department environmental services cart and in a floor sink drain in a closet in the involved medical surgical ward.
Hospitals carry so many germs. Its truly worrisome that the one place we go for care is the same place that can cause terrible illnesses.
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