kirsty&al

Hello,

I was thinking of starting a thread on how the government plans to import 20,000 skilled workers, but I thought I would post this one instead

http://theage.com.au/news/national/h...958064556.html

It gives some details on the problem here and how it compares with the US, UK and Denmark (Princess Mary's new gaff).

I don't know if the figures mean anything, or do we just assume the golden straph rate is constant (per capita) across the countries!

Regards
A

Ozzidoc

MRSA - golden staph resistant to methicillin..... but not resistant to half a dozen or more antibiotics. NOT a death sentence as seems to be portrayed by the media. It's in the community as a whole, not just hospitals.

On a kinda relevant note, one hospital I was working at banned flowers & plants as various pathogens were found in the water/soil? Try telling that to patients and visitors... "Don't you hospital people know that my mother loves her miniature rose bush/bunches of flowers etc!!!!"

Hmmm pretty flowers (etc) and increased chance of mum getting hospital acquired infections, or not..... No choice in my eyes, but obviously people are different.

kirsty&al

Good to see someone is interested.

A

andrew63

Interesting fact is that a friend of mine caught the bug in a UK NHS hospital, nearly died! Similary, another friend caught MRSA in an Irish hospital (healthcare system of payment not too dissimilar to Australia). They also got better but had a huge bill to pay for the privilege of extra antibiotics and extended stay in hospital.
Interesting to see if you are covered 100% reimbursement for catching a hospital acquired infection over here!

Andrew

Ozzidoc

I'm sorry to hear of your experiences. Yes, some people do nearly die, or, unfortunately, it's the last thing to push them over the edge.

As many people have MRSA without knowing it, it can be difficult to "prove" where the patient got it from without swabbing their noses and every single person who comes into contact with them...on a daily basis.

Bella Donna

I don't know if "golden" staph is any different to the usual Staph. Aureus, but I do know that staph. aureus normally lives quite innocuously on our skin without causing any problems. The trouble comes when people are immuno-depressed or low in vitality for other reasons and they then become susceptible to such infections. As a breastfeeding counsellor I saw problems where staph. aureus was implicated in mastitis from time to time, but more commonly in mums who had needed sections and were generally *lower* in constitution.

I also feel that MRSA rates would plummet if everyone learned proper hand hygiene. It is astonishing - or maybe it isn't - how many people still can't be bothered to wash their hands after using a toilet. Until people adopt simple hygiene measures like this, MRSA is here to stay.

Sue

Ozzidoc

Well said - I agree completely.


(Yep...SA = staph aureus = golden staph which seems to be the term that all of my Aussie friends & relatives use....)

thebardies

Hi all, i know this sounds bizarre but if i have MRSA will i fail my medical? i only ask but i am a paramedic and regularly come into contact with people that are MRSA possitive (as im sure many nurses, doctors etc do)?

Please put my mind at rest? Can i still move to Oz?

Lol x

Lordflasheart

Hi Jan,

of course you can still move. Many people have MRSA living on the skin or in the back of their throats as mentioned in previous posts. So unless you have the blood stream version or a gaping infected leg ulcer you have little to worry about.

Hygiene is of a high standard through the NHS dispite the media scare mongering people into not entering our hospitals. A high profile case by a "celebrity" and some under cover documentary report has prevented a few of my seriously ill patients from even considering a hospital stay.

If MRSA is discovered in a patient then they are imediately moved to a side room into source isolation.

I have to say that if nurses and doctors wore gloves perpetually (i know a nurse who did this and got athele's foot on her fingers) and washed their hands a hundred times a day, it still wouldn't change the attitude of many elderly patients who insisted on using a hankerchief (the same one - forever) and keeping said bacteria factory up her sleeve.

Flash.