Monday, October 12, 2009

effects of mrsa?

my gran has had her leg amputated due to cancer she has now caught mrsa while in hospital is this serious and what efects can this have
Answer:
MRSA can cause delays in wound healing, particularly if her immune system is already comprimised, as I suspect it will be with the cancer and associated treatments. There is also a risk of septicaemia, (infection in the blood) but it's not as common as all that). It's important that she gets plenty of protein in her diet (whether taken orally or in a feed via a naso-gastric feeding tube- I don't know what condition she's in or what her appetite's like at the moment). That will help a lot with wound healing. She and your family must make sure that doctors, nurses and all other professionals wash their hands thoroughly before and after carrying out interventions with her. The dressings to the leg stump must be done meticulously with aseptic technique (sterile) and your family musn't be afraid to speak up if you're worried that someone isn't taking the precautions they should be. Find out the methods they're using to treat the MRSA. These will include antibiotics, a nasal spray or ointment, Chlorhexidine mouth spray and a body wash. She will need 3 clear sets of swabs before she is clear of the bacteria. Someone with MRSA can go home with it. You don't have to wait to be clear of it before you're discharged. Good luck, but please don't be too influenced by what you hear on the news. The press have a habit of dramatising it to shock people (calling it 'The Superbug' etc. Usually people die from other illness, but blame it on the MRSA because they have to blame someone. It's true that a lot of doctors, nurses and other disciplines don't wash their hands thoroughly enough, so it's up to those of us who do (I'm a nurse) and patients and families to insist that they do! In my experience where I work, the doctors are the worst. Very often they don't wash their hands between patients and often don't even wear gloves! (Apologies to the many vigilant doctors there are out there!)
MRSA stands for methycilline resistant Staphilococcus aureus. It means that she has a variation of the Staphilococcus aureus that is resistent to some antibiotics from the peniciline or beta lactamic family. Anyway, there are other treatments aviable for her such as Vancomicin. IT IS SERIOUS. I guess the doctors there had run some test on her and the bacteria infecting her, such as an antibiogram in order ro find out which antibiotic WILL KILL the bacteria. Mostly they use Vancomicin. The worst pathology she could get is a Septicemic Shock, that means the bacteria will enter into the blood system and diseminate all over her body, and the shock part comes from inmune reactions. Luckily, in USA the CDC takes a really good care about antibiotic resistant bacteria infected patients. If she's under treatment right now, nothing big will happen.
Have a nice day,
mrsa or methicillin resistant staphilococcus aureus, wich refers to staph aureus(bacteria) that can't be treated with methicillin (or any other drug from this group as oxacillin).
u dont have to panic , there are other drugs that can be used against mrsa , as vancomycin.
staph. aureus have a wide spectrum of effects on human bodies varying from furoncle, or cellulitis to bone infection, chest infection or sepsis.

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