Hi Merril, I'm not sure if one of the many responses he got so far have mentioned this yet but studies to show that between 1/3 and 1/2 of all nurses and other employees and medical institutions are colonized with MRSA. Many, many people in the community carry MRSA... primarily in the nose... yet never contract any infections.
Hospitals are a major breeding ground for MRSA and many of the cleaning solutions that use don't remain active long enough to kill it (although there have been some new long-lasting silver-based cleaning products that show some hope). Even though they clean hospital rooms relatively well between patients all you have to do is look at the blood pressure cuffs and electronic devices moving from one room to the next to the next, etc., watch a nurse take a pencil from a pocket and write down stats then put it back even if you're in isolation and everybody wears gloves. I have asked nurses and doctors many times to change gloves if I arrive for an appointment in a stretcher and they use a gloved hand to unbuckle belts and lower the side. So many other people have used a stretcher and so many other people have touched it that I absolutely DO NOT want a gloved hand that touched it getting anywhere near an open wound! (I will say that both doctors and nurses do get a bit indignant about it because "they know what they're doing"... but tough nuggets.) Also, since I've had MRSA since 2006 in both bone and wound tissue, I have been very conscious to make sure people remove gloves immediately after touching anything near my wound before they touch anything else. The messages are making it to the larger medical population. Now that there's Community-Associated MRSA it's people who get tattoos and piercings who need to be conscious about the same things. Now THEY need to treat those facilities and the people who run them as strictly as they would if they were in a hospital room. Hope this information is useful to you and anybody else on the list. Best regards, Tod E. Santee ----- Original Message ----- From: Merrill Burghardt To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, April 01, 2008 5:53 PM Subject: [QUAD-L] MRSA Las month I was cultured as a MRSA carrier. MRSA is a resistant infection which is spreading in hospitals. Apparently I am only a carrier but suspicious looking circular sores are developing on my inner thighs. I have read about this but have never spoken with anyone who has or had it. One person had it and lost a foot. My doctors will not treat it as they believe it will only become further resistance. Have a story? Merrill
