Tag Archive for 'mrsa'

grab that martini, light up that cuban, and read these stories

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in Engineering, General blabber and Stories and rant
. 1 Comment

Rhoda, a person from Omaha who posted a reply on my post about webmd and mrsa has a blog.

Read it. http://www.rhoda.mrsastory.com/.

If this is real [and I am a known skeptic], this is some crazy stuff.

This post here talks about crazily insane shit I never consider a possibility:

 I took my daughter to the ER last night or a broken finger and a UTI. While we were checking her in I asked if they needed to be notified if she has MRSA.
“Has what?”
“MRSA. M-R-S-A.”
M-R-S-E? I can check her records.”
“No, Mam. M-R-S-A.”
She checks her computer and finds there is no previous note of it although we have been there before so she scribbles it on a piece of paper for us to give the admitting nurse which we dutifully did. She glanced at it and went on with getting us registered and proceeded to put us in a double room with another patient. Then when they came in to examine and work on my daughter not one of them thought or bothered to even put on gloves or wash their hands before leaving the room. I wonder if they ever did before going on to other patients.
Why didn’t I make a fuss at the time instead of calling to file a complaint today? I suppose it is because my daughter was in their hands and I hate to piss off the people who are going to make her feel better and it definitely seems to piss off medical professionals to correct them. It was 3 a.m. and I wanted to get out of there some time before day light. Whatever, I see it as unconscionable in that daylight. I should have yelled loudly to save the lady in the next bed and the patients seen after my doctor and nursed left with MRSA on their hands. Of course, I have found their attitude here in Omaha to be pretty much, Oh, we are all carriers any how!!! Which is another reason I didn’t speak up. Still wrong. I still should have. I have to be stronger than the opposition in this war even if it means staying up all night and going from hospital to hospital. I should use every opportunity to spread the word instead of the disease no matter how late at night or how mean everyone might be about being corrected. I will do better!!!! See you!

Is this possible?

Things like this exist? I mean most hospitals are Tenet-owned… I’ve seen what they do… But I never thought Rhoda’s story possible. Is it? Ooof…

oi! on high MRSA costs

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 0 Comments

I mean I knew this, but here are the numbers.

And the bottom line? In a study of 1.69 million admitted patients in 77 hospitals, the COST TO THE HOSPITALS was $286 million — meaning MORE THAN $5000 PER PATIENT.

That’s what it cost the hospital! That came out of the bottom line! That’s not what it cost the patient, and it’s not what it cost to treat the patient. That’s only what it cost the hospital — in dollars. There is also (what they call) an opportunity cost. I remember this one from Economics 101 in college — “opportunity cost = opportunity lost” — and the opportunity lost to hospitals is 7.5 million patient-days nation wide. That means that there would be room for that many more patients in hospitals if the others didn’t acquire infections and have to stay so long.

The original article lists a lot of valuable links, as well. This is a definite must-read and an interesting one at that, too. Well-written.

Also, read this report the article links to. Quite educational: “Dispelling the Myths: The True Cost of Heal thcare-Associated Infect ions” (PDF).

be very afraid!

Published
by
Gogga
on May 1, 2007
in General blabber
. 4 Comments

As always, WebMD’s articles are always scary. At least, they tend to scare me shitless. I remember a long time ago, I had a rash on my… let’s just say I had a rash… So I tried to describe as best as I can what I have to a trusty webmd.com’s search box……. 3 minutes later I was in my car on my way to the doc, shaking.  The doc just said something like “go wash it in salted water, take vitamin C, and go to bed”. Couldn’t sleep. Next day? Nothing! :)

Anyway, here is WebMD’s article on MRSA.

Community-Associated MRSA (CA-MRSA)

But MRSA is also showing up in healthy people who have not been living in the hospital. This type of MRSA is called community-associated MRSA, or CA-MRSA. The CDC reports that in 2003, 12% of people with MRSA infections had CA-MRSA.

Studies have shown that rates of CA-MRSA infection are growing fast. One study of children in south Texas found that cases of CA-MRSA had a 14-fold increase between 1999 and 2001.

CA-MRSA skin infections have been identified among certain populations that share close quarters or experience more skin-to-skin contact. Examples are team athletes, military recruits, and prisoners. However, more and more CA-MRSA infections are being seen in the general community as well, especially in certain geographic regions.

It’s also infecting much younger people. In a study of Minnesotans published in The Journal of the American Medical Association, the average age of people with MRSA in a hospital or healthcare facility was 68. But the average age of a person with CA-MRSA was only 23.