Super Bug - a taste of things to come. ?

Fern

Fern

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New Zealand
A super bug resistant to all antibiotics, has been feared for years. A Kiwi contracted the bug and died as the result. Because it was picked up overseas others could have died from it and nothing said, especially in the Asian countries, a distinct possibility. A taste of things to come?

A Wellington teacher is believed to be the first New Zealander to have contracted a superbug resistant to every antibiotic.
Brian Pool died in July from complications caused by a stroke, but doctors say his immune system was weakened from fighting the bacteria, Fairfax reported.
It was believed the 68-year-old picked up the bug while travelling overseas.
In January, while he was teaching English in Vietnam, Mr Pool suffered a brain haemorrhage and was operated on in a Vietnamese hospital.
He was flown to Wellington Hospital where tests found he was carrying the strain of bacterium known as KPC-Oxa 48 - an organism that rejects every kind of antibiotic.
Wellington Hospital clinical microbiologist Mark Jones told Fairfax: "Nothing would touch it. Absolutely nothing.

"It's the first one that we've ever seen that is resistant to every single antibiotic known.
"This man was in the post-antibiotic era, and this is why so many agencies over the world are raising alarm bells."
After the diagnosis, Mr Pool spent that last six months of his life in quarantine unable to leave his room.
His twin sister Maureen Dunn said they were not even able to take him outside.
"He just wanted to get out in the sun, and we couldn't take him out."
Ms Dunn said the family was frightened, and even doctors did not seem to know how the bug would affect others.
"They were s**t scared, to put it bluntly, in case these bugs were transferred to another patient or taken out into the community."
Earlier this year, British chief medical officer Sally Davies described resistance to antibiotics as a "catastrophic global threat" that should be ranked alongside terrorism.
Wellington Hospital infectious disease physician Michelle Balm said Mr Pool's superbug could have been contracted when he was in hospital in Vietnam, or a few years earlier when he had hernia surgery in India.
- APNZ
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Be afraid!

I've had a run in with the resistant form of Golden Staph (MRSA) and without going into the gory details I have a scar that measures 10X17cm around the calf of my right leg. It looked like a shark bite but has since levelled out a bit.
Every antiobiotic available was tried on it and it just kept spreading until finally one held it in check. One! out of at least 5 that were tried.

It took around 5 weeks to get that size and another 8 months to heal completely.

This new super one was always going to happen. It's one of those '4 Horsemen' that awaits the human race to rein in it's numbers I think.

Did I mention....? Be afraid!
 
We might as well get used to this kind of news story, well as long as we are around to read news stories that is.

I think we are in the end of days. Just my gut feelings.

Have a nice day.zombie02.gif
 

Diwundrin said:
Be afraid!

I've had a run in with the resistant form of Golden Staph (MRSA) and without going into the gory details I have a scar that measures 10X17cm around the calf of my right leg. It looked like a shark bite but has since levelled out a bit.
Every antiobiotic available was tried on it and it just kept spreading until finally one held it in check. One! out of at least 5 that were tried.

It took around 5 weeks to get that size and another 8 months to heal completely.

This new super one was always going to happen. It's one of those '4 Horsemen' that awaits the human race to rein in it's numbers I think.

Did I mention....? Be afraid!
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What a story, Di, and I've been reading about this for many years. I am very afraid. That's why dr's are getting more and more cautious about handing out antibiotics on a whim -- the more we take, the less likely they are to work on the really bad infections like yours. But I'm one to talk..for my twice yearly (without fail) sinus infections, I can't get a script fast enough! Thank goodness I didn't have my first one until I was 50 and that was only a year or so ago. HA! My nose reaches the computer on that one !
 
Avoid people??!! How?? Everyone needs to shop on occasion, and when you have grandchildren in school, you're going to be exposed to whatever bugs are going around....
 
I agree with Anne. How do you avoid all people all the time? Do you have your groceries delivered and left on your doorstep?
Even your mail delivered will be 'germy'.. it's hard to be a hermit.
 
Anne said:
Avoid people??!! How?? Everyone needs to shop on occasion, and when you have grandchildren in school, you're going to be exposed to whatever bugs are going around....
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Boo's Mom said:
I agree with Anne. How do you avoid all people all the time? Do you have your groceries delivered and left on your doorstep?
Even your mail delivered will be 'germy'.. it's hard to be a hermit.
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1. I don't have any grandchildren - yet. ;)

2. I "shop" at 6am at the convenience store down the street - very few people there, mainly the store owner or his clerk, and I don't swap spit with either one.

3. I don't receive any snail mail.

4. I wash my hands several times a day, and before and after eating. I also disinfect my laptop weekly.
 
Sorry but people avoidance isn't going to make any difference. It's a bug, a bacteria, not a virus that's relatively short lived in open air. It can lie in wait anywhere. It was found that during the outbreak of MRSA that I fell foul of, one young boy was infected in the shower! That was a good find and probably prevented a lot more from catching it when the word got around.
His grandfather had largely recovered from it but the bacteria was still active in the drain and splashed up onto the child when visiting there. It hadn't affected other adults with no open lesions but the shorter child had a graze on his knee and it became infected from the bacteria in the water splashing up from the drain hole.

Anyone with MRSA is advised not to shower at all while the wound is open, and any possible contaminated areas should be washed out with strong bleach. It can remain active for months. Who was staying in that motel room folks? Who was using the public loo? Who was handling the bunch of grapes you just bought?

How the hell did I get it on the back of my leg that never sees the light of day, had no injury to become infected, and certainly wasn't handled by the general public? It was first treated as a spider bite because there was just no other apparent explanation at the time.
Maybe it was, or maybe even an ant bite, but how did the MRSA bacteria get into it? I'll never know.

The bloke next door had it too, and no, we weren't that 'close'. He got the boring in type, it went straight to the bone and he was in even more trouble than I was. He left home and moved in with his father out of town to prevent his kids catching it from him. Their house was practically fumigated after he left and the kids were okay. He was away for months. There were quite a lot of cases of it in the Singleton area and no one ever found out why as no common factor was ever found.
 
Diwundrin said:
Sorry but people avoidance isn't going to make any difference. It's a bug, a bacteria, not a virus that's relatively short lived in open air. It can lie in wait anywhere. It was found that during the outbreak of MRSA that I fell foul of, one young boy was infected in the shower! That was a good find and probably prevented a lot more from catching it when the word got around...
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Actually, people avoidance, and avoidance of the places that people frequent, would indeed cut down on my chances of catching it.

I also don't hang out with the most-frequent victims of the bug - hospital patients, military personnel, inmates, athletes, children or farmers with food-producing animals.

BTW, there's a type of honey from Chile - Ulmo Honey - that is supposedly a good antiseptic in such cases.
 
Di, that's really scary, especially since they couldn't find any common ground for it spreading. I've been careful for years; at least once a month I wash all doorknobs, phones, computer keys, light switches, etc...whatever is touched frequently. In Winter months, I know the flu is going around and neither of us need it, for sure.

We wash our hands often, but then again, anytime you need to shop, etc., there's shopping carts, door handles, who-knows-what else that you are going to be touching. I suppose the best is to keep our immune system strong, any way we know how.

ETA: I remember reading some time ago that one of the essential oils would kill MRSA; seems it was eucalyptus, but not 100% sure about that.
 
Katybug said:
But I'm one to talk..for my twice yearly (without fail) sinus infections, I can't get a script fast enough! Thank goodness I didn't have my first one until I was 50 and that was only a year or so ago. HA! My nose reaches the computer on that one !
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KB.....i was once like you with the sinus infections. I had them for years. Nobody knows how rotten you feel when you get a bad one, they leave you feeling really sick with high temps, no energy, facial pain, yuk!! I had the antibiotics then but something changed. I started getting shocking hayfever, not just spring time but any time of the year, I'd never had anything like it. Anyway, to cut my story short, my doc gave my a script for a nose spray, can't buy this over the counter. I started using it daily and it fixed my hayfever but then I realised I hadn't had a sinus infection for ages. If I feel my sinuses getting a little blocked I use a saline nose wash, I actually use it nearly every day and thank goodness I'm still clear of any infections. Sounds strange, but true.:cool:

 
I agree with Phil... stay away from other people,... get out of the big cities, don't travel in crowded buses, trains & planes.
It's called self quarantining and it works.


Di... get away from that part of Australia that's teeming with bug-infested people.
 
Casper said:
KB.....i was once like you with the sinus infections. I had them for years. Nobody knows how rotten you feel when you get a bad one, they leave you feeling really sick with high temps, no energy, facial pain, yuk!! I had the antibiotics then but something changed. I started getting shocking hayfever, not just spring time but any time of the year, I'd never had anything like it. Anyway, to cut my story short, my doc gave my a script for a nose spray, can't buy this over the counter. I started using it daily and it fixed my hayfever but then I realised I hadn't had a sinus infection for ages. If I feel my sinuses getting a little blocked I use a saline nose wash, I actually use it nearly every day and thank goodness I'm still clear of any infections. Sounds strange, but true.:cool:
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I have been doing this now for a couple of weeks. Every morning. I use this brand, it works great! I highly recommend it too. I think it is easier to use than the neti pot, just from what I've read, you don't have to tilt your head sideways while you are trying to pour water into your nose, just lean forward over the sink and squeeze the bottle, a half of cup in one nostril and then the other side. If a big wuss like me can do it, anybody can.

I've had sinus problems, for about 10 years now, but I never get sick, just lots of post nasal drip and congestion, but I never get a sinus infection.

http://www.neilmed.com/usa/sinusrinse_isotonic.php
 
ganzkoerperkondom-kostuem-432340000-1.jpg
 
Talking hay fever and sinus, I have suffered with it for years, in some cases had difficulty breathing, the first thing I did , all the trees that created a lot of pollen were removed,(with the help of hubby) then I rubbed Vicks Vaporub on my chest and under my nose and it works a treat, put a dob on a tissue and breath it in. So in the Spring & Summer I make sure I have my Vicks handy.
 
Wow that's one giant prick That Guy.

I rinse out my sinuses because I am plaugued with sinus problems and allergies, I'm not a germ-a-phob.

After I went through menopause and turned back into a girl, my childhood allergies all came back.

And then strangely my fear of being abducted by Aliens went away, because I am now to old for them to want to use me as an incubator for Alien/human hybrids. And also I'm too old for them to be wanting to harvest my eggs.

Ah the perks of getting older.
 
Jillaroo said:
Casper can you explain what & how you do the saline nose wash, in a PM if you prefer thanks
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I MUST STOP SCROLLING FROM BOTTOM UP AND REPLYING. THE NETI POT HAS ALREADY BEEN MENTIONED IN AN EARLIER POST AND IT WON'T LET ME CANCEL. PLEASE OVERLOOK! (Where it that embarrassed icon?)

Butting in here, Jill, I use a Neti Pot, as everyone I know swears by them. It looks like a lil tea pot and small saline solution pkgs come with it -- one pkg + the amount of distilled water it calls for. Standing over the sink & holding head over, pour up one side of your nose and it will drain out the other. My internist highly recommends it, but I don't do it as quickly as I should and that's why I end up w/these infections twice a yr...just plain negligence & I don't like using it. I know they work, I hear people talking about them all the time, so it's my problem they haven't worked for me. If I used it regularly, like Casper, I could save myself some suffering.
 

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