Hand Sanitizing Reduces Hospital Risk
Health and Hygiene Used to Fight Antibiotic Resistance in Hospitals
Jan 10, 2009
Methicillin Resistant Staph aureus, or hospital MRSA, has become almost a household word. MRSA occurs when the bacteria Staph becomes resistant to numerous antibiotics including the most commonly used such as methicillin and penicillin.
MRSA is primarily a hospital risk concern. When you have MRSA, it means that if you contract an infection, it will be much harder to kill because the bacteria is resistant to most antibiotics.
Hospital Risk Large With Hospital MRSA
In fact, MRSA was blamed in 2005 for more than 94,000 life-threatening infections and nearly 19,000 deaths in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's website at cdc.gov.
It is also not surprising that MRSA is most common in health care facilities and nursing homes. It tends to hit older people, the very ill and people whose immune systems are weak. In addition, MRSA can be blamed for infections in surgical wounds and other infections such as pneumonia and those in the urinary tract and bloodstream.
However, MRSA has several sidekicks. A new study based on a survey of Canadian hospitals found a rising problem of hospital-acquired infections, which includes MRSA, VRE, or Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococcus, and C. Difficile, short for Clostidium difficile.
The Canadian researchers found significant increases in the rates of major communicable bacterial infections which include the three leading bacteria. Their study was conducted from 1999 to 2005 and found that the rates of MRSA alone more than doubled.
Antibiotic Resistance Part of Hospital Infection Control Concerns
Like MRSA, VRE describes a bacteria that is resistant to an antibiotic. In the case of VRE, the enterococci bacteria become resistant to the antibiotic vancomycin. The majority of VRE infections happen to people in hospitals.
The presence of these bacteria increases people’s risk of infection.
C.Difficile is commonly called “C.diff” and is also a bacteria. Symptoms include diarrhea which could develop in a serious, life-threatening inflammation of the colon.
The American Family Physician journal reported in its March 1, 2005 edition that C. Diff was responsible for about three million cases of diarrhea and colitis in 2005 in the United States. Up to 2.5 percent of those people died.
Hand Sanitizing, Hospital Cleaning Best Infection Control Protocols
What can you do to prevent the spread of these sometimes deadly bacteria?
These bacteria are most often spread from one person to another by contact, usually on the hands of caregivers such as medical or nursing staff and family and friends. Unfortunately, the bacteria can live for weeks on hands and objects such as bed rails, call buttons, bedpans, door handles or even men’s neckties.
However, the bacteria can be easily killed with good cleaning and most importantly, the mainstay of good health and hygiene, handwashing. In the September 25, 2007 edition of ScienceDaily, a study showed that the best way the eliminate C.Diff is by people scrubbing their hands with plain soap and warm water. At a minimum, find a hand sanitizer to use.
The best way that you can prevent the spread of these bacteria is to protect yourself and your family. Find out how such hospital risk is managed by reviewing the rates of VRE, MRSA and C.Diff at your local hospital. Ask all caregivers who enter your hospital room, or your family or friend’s room, to use good hand hygiene by washing their hands thoroughly. Learn all you can about antibiotic resistance and ways you help prevent its spread.
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