Summary
A study in The Lancet suggests that a policy of isolating intensive care patients who have MRSA does not prevent transmission of the deadly "supervirus". Hospitals in Scotland have been under fire for alleged cover-ups concerning the disease. MRSA kills at least 5,000 people annually. American physicians have suggested that rigorous hand-washing by attending physicians is a necessary first step in containing the disease.
Original source:
http://news.scotsman.com/health.cfm?id=19422005
Details
ISOLATING intensive care patients infected with MRSA does not stop the hospital superbug spreading, according to new research published today.
The practice is one of the main strategies used by Scottish hospitals to try to stop MRSA cases infecting other patients.
But a study in medical journal The Lancet suggests the policy makes no difference to transmission rates - at least as far as intensive care patients are concerned.
The news comes the day after health chiefs were accused of covering up the fact that Lothian grandmother Ina Boyd, 76, died after contracting MRSA at the cityâ¬(TM)s Western General hospital.
The study highlighted the failure of staff to wash their hands often enough in the hospitals involved as a possible cause of the problem.
Dr Peter Wilson, from University College London Hospital, led the research at his hospital and the Royal Free Hospital.
Over the course of a year, patients undergoing intensive care at the hospitals were screened weekly for colonisation of MRSA.
During the middle six months, MRSA-positive patients were not moved to a single room or isolated as a group unless they were at risk of spreading other serious infections.
No changes in transmission or infection rate were seen between the two different systems.
The "standard precautions" include the careful observance of hand hygiene and glove use.
Hospital-acquired infections cost the NHS about £1 billion per year and, according to official estimates, claim around 5000 lives.
A patient has a one in 396 chance of contracting
MRSA during a ten-day hospital stay in the Lothians, worse than any other region of the country.
"Most institutions still tolerate defect or failure rates in hand hygiene of 40 per cent or more - levels that would be considered shocking in any other industry."
About the author: Mike Adams is a natural health author and award-winning journalist with a passion for teaching people how to improve their health He has authored more than 1,800 articles and dozens of reports, guides and interviews on natural health topics, and he has published numerous courses on preparedness and survival, including financial preparedness, emergency food supplies, urban survival and tactical self-defense. Adams is a trusted, independent journalist who receives no money or promotional fees whatsoever to write about other companies' products. In 2010, Adams created TV.NaturalNews.com, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He's also a veteran of the software technology industry, having founded a personalized mass email software product used to deliver email newsletters to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and regularly pursues cycling, nature photography, Capoeira and Pilates. He's also author of numerous health books published by Truth Publishing and is the creator of several consumer-oriented grassroots campaigns, including the Spam. Don't Buy It! campaign, and the free downloadable Honest Food Guide. He also created the free reference sites HerbReference.com and HealingFoodReference.com. Adams believes in free speech, free access to nutritional supplements and the ending of corporate control over medicines, genes and seeds.
Have comments on this article? Post them here:
people have commented on this article.
Tuesday, January 18, 2005
Email this article to a friend
Share
this article on: 
