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Loading ...MRSA and 9/11
November 5, 2007
Perhaps I am beating this subject into the ground, but the reality is that the MRSA hysteria is having a huge effect on my daily life in practice. I am constantly answering questions about this (that is why I put something up in the exam rooms).
There are a lot of ways in which this reminds me of 9/11. Prior to 9/11, we had a constant threat of terrorist activities. Those involved in anti-terrorism would probably agree that the public just did not understand the seriousness of the treat. Not until 9/11. 9/11 showed the seriousness of the threat that was there all along. Should we have been more worried about terrorists? Obviously. If we had taken the threats more seriously, we could have averted the tragic deaths on that day. But we didn’t. If only we had understood the reality of the threat of terrorism, 9/11 might not have happened.
The same thing can be said for this current MRSA "crisis." We have been fighting against this problem for a long time, and talks of a "post-antibiotic" age of medicine have echoed through the medical community, but the public has been largely unaware. Until now. Now the fear of the reality that has been there all along is finally hitting the public. The public finally is grasping the idea of how bad it would be if we had no antibiotics available.
The big thing that changed in both situations was the public’s perception of their safety. Prior to 9/11, the public felt that we were safe where we lived and worked. There hadn’t been a war on our ground since Pearl Harbor - and that was not on our mainland. Prior to the present MRSA crisis, people felt that there was a medical safety net that would catch them if they got sick. Most of us do not remember life without lots of antibiotics to treat our sore throats, ear infections, and pneumonias.
Now we must face an unsafe world. We must face the reality that the majority of the world’s population faces on a daily basis. Life is fragile. We are not really safe. Technology and democracy can’t protect us from the inevitable. They may offer temporary sanctuary - it is certainly nice to live in the safety we enjoy - but the enormity of the reaction in both circumstances makes it clear that we have not escaped what it is to be human. We have not escaped the fragility of life. Yes, both are a call to action to protect us from these dangers, but perhaps in the future we won’t take our safety as much for granted. Perhaps we won’t ignore the cries of potential danger when they happen next time. Perhaps we can learn something from this crisis.
Yet human we are, and human we shall remain; and one of the strongest human traits seems to be denial. I suspect we will continue to hop from one crisis to the next.
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November 5th, 2007 at 10:03 am
Thank you for a great article!!!!! I have been screaming MRSA is HERE for over a year and now suddenly everyone gets it. And there is more to come, this is the tip of the iceberg for these Super Bugs!! I hope you are an advocate of Phage Therapy because just making new antibiotics doesn’t seem to be the answer! See you ’round the blog! Rhoda
November 5th, 2007 at 2:03 pm
Well said Rob…. Fortunatly in the ER we are treating patients who often don’t pay attention to the world around them. Or unfortunatly perhaps.
November 5th, 2007 at 2:29 pm
I think to make the analogy to 9/11 complete, we’d have to invade Sri Lanka. Or maybe remove everyones’ gallbladder. I’m ready to serve.
And thanks for allowing me to use my calculator this time.
November 5th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Rob, I also think that this generation of parents are far more fearful over nothing than previous generations (thus, vax resistance etc). They also expect perfection in all things — it’s wrong if their little darlings have something that can’t be fixed. Somebody screwed up and it isn’t me.
November 5th, 2007 at 9:25 pm
Wow…the odd thing is, I was already too familiar with this whole problem before it recently exploded onto the local and national scenes. It made me wonder whether that little bit of residual paranoia that I’ve been left with after tangling with MRSA back in the spring is actually justified. We can’t close ourselves into a sterile little bubble, but perhaps this is the time when we finally realize that we have to change the way we look at infectious diseases in general…like stressing the importance of hygiene, being more vigilant about simple practices like handwashing, sanitizing equipment that’s reused, and keeping cuts and scrapes properly cleaned and covered. Laxity and overdependence on antibiotics must also be addressed. For their part, physicians should educate people about the proper indications for antibiotics until they “get it” and stop requesting such medicines for colds, flu, and other VIRAL illnesses. It may take a long time to change the public’s collective mind, but we’re starting to see the high price we may very well pay if something isn’t done. Interesting analogy to 9/11…all I could think was, why does it take something so disastrous to get our collective attention?
November 5th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
About 9/11, I’m not one to simply jump on religions. But the fact is that there is nothing so dangerous as religious fanatacism. I’ve always expected religion to refect love, compassion and tolerance. Unfortunately, through-out history, it has been just the opposite. I have nothing against man’s belief and worship of a supreme being. But again, these beliefs have led to hate, violence and intolerance. Which, if there is a supreme being, would be the greatest sin of all in his eyes.
How one murders in God’s name is incomprehensible to me.
Islam is and has been a violent and intolerant religion. I don’t hold all Muslims responsible for the actions of fanatics. But I do expect the truly religious to roundly denounce all acts of violence and intolerance condoned by the leaders of Islam.
And until we stop acting politically correct and call a spade a spade, the world will continue down this road of violence.
November 15th, 2007 at 4:48 am
Way to go with this comment: “We must face the reality that the majority of the world’s population faces on a daily basis.”
In France, where doctors have traditionally been huge overprescribers of antibiotics upon parental requests and threats to change primary care providers, the government did put out a well-funded campaign saying in essence, antibiotics are not automatic. It gave the doctors courage and support to stand up and refuse certain demands in egregious cases.
The problem is, however, if you are a professional who knows about different microorganismal infections, and evolution to boot, there has been backlash. Now you are perceived as being quite out of it if you want to ask for a culture (my son is prone to boils). It’s all a question of hygiene, quoth the doctor. Sigh. As if I have the time to take him to someone else to finally get the lab test. And when my daughter gets lice, there are no more insecticide-based treatments available at the pharmacy. I have to douse her head in *lavender oil and camphor*-based products - there are eight brands available on the market - on a regular basis for three weeks, comb and pull her hair out, with no guarantee of success, just because the fear of natural selection has now been extended to insecticide-resistant head lice.
All things in moderation. Sheesh. The mere fact that the US public refers to “MRSA” in those terms is indicative, in my opinion, of the mass panic of which you complain, fanned by lazy media reporting.
As an aside, Wolley, “truly” religious Muslims condemn acts of terrorism and murder in the name of Allah on a very regular basis. For what good it does. True Christians in the US condemned the Ku Klux Klan, too, but that didn’t prevent the latter from going to church and committing their deeds as well. You say that “Islam is and has been a violent and intolerant religion” but unless you are proselytizing for Buddhism (and the Burmese military calls itself Buddhist), you certainly should not hold up Christianity as a better model. I could easily find you examples of fanatic “orthodox” Jews and Hindus. I agree with you about religious fanaticism overall, but it’s not the disapproval of “true” believers that will change the behavior of fanatics.
If I knew what would, I would tell you.
February 5th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
If the so-called “infrastructure upgrade” in Fresno, CA is an example of how it is being carried out across the nation, it is likely the cause behind nationwide staph (MRSA) infections. Possibly even terrorism - what better way to wipe out a nation than by connecting of pipes. Not only carried out right under our noses but paid for by US dollars.
The heavy equipment blocks the view to all of the sewage discharges as lines are being illegally altered and haphazardly clamped back together. Damages and reconstruction to connecting properties, leaving a city setting on top of clamped lines. Floors drilled out in order to alter sewer/water lines, which property owners are not aware of. Residents lied to about the cause, as they are infected with raw sewage discharges. In some cases, residents run off their property - never seen again; forged deeds.
Keep in mind that various pathogens from raw sewage, including deadly MRSA, are airborne - imagine what is seeping through these clamped lines and into our homes. City of Fresno refuses to address the issue with more than lies, threats, name-calling - going as far as committing perjury to discredit their own records, which verify exactly what is taking place. The trail of lung/illness, infections, death speaks for itself. In reaction to the increase in MRSA, city officials increased medical benefits for themselves while instructing the public to “wash our hands.”
As a matter of interest, with structures throughout town now entailing clamped lines, this is also how mold lawsuits and insurance claims are carried out - simply loosening the clamps.