"It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this, because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be controlled, and with not too much effort," said Jan Hendrik-Binder, Oslo's MRSA medical adviser. "But you have to take it seriously, you have to give it attention, and you must not give up." Full Story »
Posted by Walter Cox
the information here about how norway is changing hospital infection/death rates so dramatically is fascinating and seems so sensible. i'd like to have included here more facts and figures and more indepth information on the stated cdc info and about the differences between the models and our own health care culture.
An excellent article that underscores how negligent most developed nations have been in their attempts to control hospital-acquired staph infections.
Good discussion of several of the factors in the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria: direct-to-consumer advertising, physician prescribing habits, tracing strains of bacteria. Fails to mention that in most countries in Europe, animals are not given prophylactic antibiotics to increase growth while increasing bacterial resistance. Fails to mention the role of antibacterial products in decreasing protective normal flora and in increasing antibiotic resistance. It may also be a difference that Norway, like most European countries, has a higher proportion of primary care physicians than specialists. In the U.S., emergency rooms and urgent care centers provide antibiotics at a much higher rate than primary care ... More »
Interesting article about successful MRSA infection prevention using alternative, long forgotten, methods including isolation, basic hygiene and common sense (or uncommon) prescribing antibiotics. While an interesting read, the story would have benefited from clearer and in-depth sourcing and inclusion of the data supporting the claims made.
Infection control, especially hard to kill bugs, is an interesting and attention grabbing topic as the headline of this article clearly shows. As an expert in this field I would have preferred to see the actual data behind the various claims made in the story as I don't believe any statistic I didn't falsify myself. Nevertheless, the story makes some interesting points (and there is an implied scientific basis) on how-to prevent and handle MRSA infections using Norway's success as an ... More »
The ecology of a human is much like the ecology of a garden. Once you stop using insecticides and herbicides, for the most part the garden looks after itself. This approach takes knowledge and work instead of just reaching for the magic bullet. Much more satisfying for real doctors. Oh how Big Pharm will be lobying against this approach.
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