'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals
Last Updated Mon, 21 Mar 2005 22:25:23 EST
CBC News
TORONTO - Hospitals are failing to control antibiotic-resistant
"superbug" infections that kill as many as 8,000 patients each year
and cost health-care systems at least $100 million annually, a CBC
News investigation has learned.
Yet infection control budgets are the first to be cut when money gets
tight, some doctors say, despite the rising frequency of infections
caused by bacteria such as Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) or
methicillin-resistant staphylococcus (MRSA).
INDEPTH: Hospital infections
The incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA has increased tenfold in less
than a decade.
Since 2003, C. difficile has killed more than 600 people in Quebec
alone, most of them elderly or very sick patients.
In all, the statistics show 250,000 Canadians are getting sick from
preventable infections every year.
Such infections kill more North Americans annually than breast cancer,
traffic accidents and AIDS combined.
Many fatal infections preventable: official
Despite the wake-up call that SARS gave to the Toronto area in 2003,
Niagara public health officer Dr. Douglas Sidar says infection control
still does not receive enough attention in Canada's hospitals.
"People die from these infections – which technically, almost
certainly, in many instances can be prevented," said Sidar.
He thinks hospitals must wake up to the need for proper infection
control – including nurses who know how to recognize the signs of an
infection and enough cleaning staff to keep commonly touched surfaces
free of bacterial contamination.
Sidar also said more should be done to track down the source of an
infection when an outbreak occurs so that the hospital doesn't keep
making people sick.
Complacency about germs blamed
Dr. Michael Rachlis, who studies and writes books about Canada's
health-care system, says a big part of the problem is the lack of
controls over infection surveillance in hospitals.
"We have become complacent about infectious diseases," he said. "We
certainly got reminded in the '80s, with AIDS, that the plagues are
always around and threaten us, but in general we are not afraid of
germs."
Infection control budgets are still treated like low-hanging fruit, he
said, with cleaning and nursing staff the first items to be cut when
hospitals experience a financial crunch.
TOMORROW: Canadian hospitals have fewer rules than restaurants when it
comes to infection control measures – and that has experts calling for
mandatory national standards.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: 'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals |
22 Mar 2005 02:40:54 AM |
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On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:58:49 -0500, wrote:
'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals
*****. My wife works in a hospital. You are so full of *****
pantyboy your eyes are brown and it's seeping out your ears.
"Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one,some bigger than others"
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| User: "Marvin The Paranoid Android" |
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| Title: Re: 'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals |
22 Mar 2005 04:30:57 PM |
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wrote:
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:58:49 -0500, wrote:
'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals
*****. My wife works in a hospital. You are so full of *****
pantyboy your eyes are brown and it's seeping out your ears.
"Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one,some bigger than others"
Well, he's quoting it from a CBC article and, unusually, he *hasn't*
altered the main heading.
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: 'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals |
24 Mar 2005 05:30:18 AM |
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Zak@hom.com wrote:
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:58:49 -0500, wrote:
'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals
*****. My wife works in a hospital. You are so full of *****
Wrong as usual.
Tony
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: 'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals |
24 Mar 2005 02:25:34 AM |
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On Thu, 24 Mar 2005 06:30:18 -0500, wrote:
Zak@hom.com wrote:
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:58:49 -0500, wrote:
'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals
*****. My wife works in a hospital. You are so full of *****
Wrong as usual.
Tony
Prove it dickwad,
"Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one,some bigger than others"
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| User: "" |
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| Title: Re: 'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals |
23 Mar 2005 02:36:55 AM |
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On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 17:30:57 -0500, Marvin The Paranoid Android
<marvin@galaxy.com> wrote:
Zak@hom.com wrote:
On Tue, 22 Mar 2005 07:58:49 -0500, wrote:
'Superbug' infections spiralling in Canadian hospitals
*****. My wife works in a hospital. You are so full of *****
pantyboy your eyes are brown and it's seeping out your ears.
"Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one,some bigger than others"
Well, he's quoting it from a CBC article and, unusually, he *hasn't*
altered the main heading.
CBC, Hahahaha, That's a good one. It rivals CNN. Same Propoganda
*****.
"Opinions are like assholes, everybody has one,some bigger than others"
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