Doctors fear that their drug defences against hosp

[bongme]

hi

Made a balls up there some were, hay i have only 1 per of hands mon mon mon  

Friday, 17 May, 2002

Doctors fear that their drug defences against hospital superbugs are weakening after a patient was diagnosed with a powerful new strain.

Bacteria resistant to many classes of antibiotics are rife in many UK hospitals.

However, even in the most extreme cases, doctors could turn to the antibiotic vancomycin to clear the infection.

In the latest case, the unnamed patient developed an infection which had developed a low-level resistance even to this class of drugs.

It is the first such case in England - although there have been vancomycin resistant strains uncovered in Scotland, as well as in France, Japan and the US.

An earlier scare in Bristol involved a bacteria which turned out to have insignificant resistance to the drug.

The patient involved later died, although the infection is not thought to have been the cause.

Hospital officials believe that no-one else in the building has caught the bug.

Costly

"Superbugs" such as MRSA are thought to cost thousands of lives - and hundreds of millions of pounds to the NHS each year.

Poor hospital hygiene practices are thought by many to contribute to the problem, and in July 2000, the government launched a £60m drive to improve cleanliness.

However, another key factor is the heavy use of antibiotics, particularly in the hospital environment.

Exposure to these drugs eventually leads to the survival of strains whose genetic make-up lends itself to drug resistance as weaker, competing strains are killed off.

'First choice'

Dr Georgia Duckworth, from the Public Health Laboratory Service (PHLS), which monitors infectious disease in the UK, said: "With the development of antibiotic resistance, Staphylococcus aureus infections have become harder to treat as there are fewer antibiotics that are effective.

"Since the discovery of MRSA, vancomycin has been the first choice antibiotic used in its treatment.

"This first case in England is a serious development."

Scientists are racing to develop new types of antibiotic as resistant strains of bacteria render existing drugs redundant.

New classes of drug have been introduced in recent years - but doctors are still being urged to cut back on antibiotic usage wherever possible to slow down the arrival of resistance.

Dr Duckworth said: "It underscores the fact that there is no cause for complacency in antibiotic usage - whenever we use an antibiotic, even if totally appropriately, we encourage the development of resistance to it."

Bongme

[maryjane]

This is additional facts for me to take care

I have a challenged immune system and multiple allergies ...folks like me are susceptable to bugs and such

as ya say most hospital in the u.k are m.r.s.a positive.

and most folks like me don't respone to anti-biotics as they challenge the immunological function even more .

Perhaps we should all take head of the Hypocratic Oath .......heal thyself

and only in desperate situations be in hospital .

I take tea tree oil in hospital with me, I wipe all surfaces around me with it and believe me this sorts the bugs out its like domestos but nicer.

mj