Does any of this sound femilier?

[scruffycat]

I was told that during my stay in hospital, my ward was closed due to the MRSA virus. Does this happen often?

[wobblybee]

When I was having chemo there were regular swabs taken for MRSA tests. I once had an unidentified infection😁 and had an enforced admission.

What actually surprised me at the time was, flowers weren't allowed on the ward, something to do with infection🤔 xB

[Floramac]

Do you mean closed to admissions or Visitors?. I have not heard of a ward being closed to MRSA ....

[neta]

What is MRSA?

When I had my first child, the maternity ward in a fancy private hospital in NYC was suddenly closed due to a staph infection-- this after being given a careful tour of the hospital and maternity wing. The result was panic! Everyone (in my Lamaze class) went into labor. We were routed to a city hospital which had different rules and where we were 7 in a room! But the babies were born fine and many have by now become parents themselves.I guess at-risk populations are very susceptible to hospitall infections and viruses.

[scruffycat in reply to neta]

Here is the official description posted online - MRSA or to give it’s full name or meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus. You may have heard it called a "superbug". MRSA is a type of bacteria that's resistant to a number of widely used antibiotics. This means MRSA infections can be more difficult to treat than other bacterial infections.

How do you get MRSA?

MRSA bacteria are usually spread through skin-to-skin contact with someone who has an MRSA infection or has the bacteria living on their skin.

The bacteria can also be spread through contact with contaminated objects such as towels, sheets, clothes, dressings, surfaces, door handles and floors.

People staying in hospital are most at risk of becoming infected with MRSA because:

•they're surrounded by a large number of people, which means the bacteria can spread more easily

•they often have an entry point for the bacteria to get into their body, such as a surgical wound. If the bacteria get into a break in the skin, they can cause life-threatening infections, such as blood poisoning or endocarditis. (Around one in five people will also need surgery to repair or replace a damaged heart valve or drain away any abscesses that develop.) Oh dear. A common treatment for Endocarditis are antibiotics, if you have the superbug most antibiotics will be in-effective?

•they may have serious or complex health problems, which makes them more vulnerable to infection

It's also possible to become infected with MRSA outside of hospital, although this is much less common.

[neta]

Yikes. Sounds bad. Indeed a book came out a few years ago suggesting that many USA hospitals are quite treacherous. But thanks 4 the explanation.. N

[nigelrheath]

Hospitals are dangerous places, full of sick and dying people. Thank you nurses and doctors for putting yourselves in the line of fire and in the UK for working long shifts, putting you at even more risk.

I have used homeopathy or natural remedies and anti-bacterials for 40 years or more, often to the amazement and shock of dentists, vets and doctors.

In an emergency take me to A&E, otherwise I'll find a more natural way than allopathy (western medicine, against the body) using something to boost my own healing system with no side effects.

Yes this includes ataxia, as those of you who have visited my little self help site will know.

Scruffycat, thanks for that in depth explanation. Information is power, ignorance is not always bliss!!

Nigel

[scruffycat in reply to nigelrheath]

Sometimes information is a worry, especially as bacteriar can't read the warning signs. At this point, I should say that as well as being a great source of information, the Internet can also be a great source of disinformation. Just because an article appears high up "search" results, doesn't make it true!