Dangerous MRSA Hospital Infection Puts Patients At Risk

Hospitals and nursing homes have continued to hide the fact that MRSA is alive and thriving inside their facilities. Over the past decade more and more victims have become infected with MRSA and casualties have grown as the dangerous hospital infection has become stronger.

Washington state hospital patients have been infected with the antibiotic resistant MRSA hospital infection at an alarming rate. Cases have grown from 141 patients a year to over 4,700 new MRSA per year. It is being reported that this dangerous infection has been ignored by area hospitals as more and more people are put at risk.

The startling fact is hospitals do not have to put this information in reports. Hospitals like Harborview Medical Center do not have to reveal to the public the high number of infection rates. Regulators there do not require that MRSA related deaths and incidents be shared in public documents. Sadly, MRSA, though dangerous, is a treatable and preventable hospital infection.

In its report, the Seattle Times analyzed millions of computerized hospital records, death certificates and other hospital documents in an effort to track the occurrence of the MRSA hospital infection. It is the first time anyone provided a comprehensive accounting of the dangerous infection. The data revealed 672 previously undisclosed deaths that were attributed to the MRSA hospital infection. Information not shared with the public.

The MRSA hospital infection can be spread by touch or contact and can get a jumpstart by breaks in the skin that are as small as a mosquito bite. At risk patients are those in a health care facility and it was found that six out of seven of them were infected with the dangerous MRSA germ.

Last fall the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released information to the media that stated the MRSA hospital infection had claimed 18,000 lives a year, and made it more dangerous than AIDS. However, MRSA has been silently killing patients for years and the sad thing is it could have been prevented.

There is a test that costs around $20 which doctors could administer that tells them if a patient is a carrier or infected with the MRSA hospital infection. It doesn’t take long to give this test and it is painless. Once the dangerous germ is identified, doctors could take the necessary steps to prevent its spread by isolating those patients with the MRSA hospital infection.

Federal Veterans hospitals use such a test and reports show that when the test is administered, a hospital can reduce the MRSA hospital infection to zero. However, no Washington area hospitals take this safety screening measure.

Hospital officials believe that administering the test for MRSA is too bothersome and unnecessary. They say hand washing and wearing protective garments is more effective in preventing the spread of the dangerous MRSA hospital infection. Yet the rates of infection do not support hospital officials’ beliefs.

In the early1980s, 17 patients died from an outbreak of the MRSA hospital infection at Harborview Medical Center. This state’s premier trauma center failed to isolate the infected patients from those that did not. And according to the Seattle Times report, Harborview continues to house patients infected with the MRSA hospital infection with those that do not have the dangerous germ. Because of this carelessness, this year alone more people have died from MRSA hospital infection than ever before.

It’s a crap shoot to determine who gets tested for the dangerous MRSA hospital infection. There aren’t any federal or state rules that say Washington hospitals must screen for the dangerous germ that puts so many patients at risk. Resulting in a kamikaze like set of infection control policies that don’t protect patients who are most vulnerable.

Critically ill patients and those being treated in intensive care units are often stricken with the MRSA hospital infection. Those with weakened immune systems have also been identified as victims of the dangerous infection.

Critics of better testing procedures claim they don’t have the manpower to dedicate to fighting just one germ. They say testing all patients for the MRSA hospital infection will undermine current patient safety and that they don’t have the space to isolate those who are infected with the dangerous infection.

And of course there is the fear of lawsuits. Hospitals say that if testing were to be administered to patients as they are admitted, the MRSA germ could be identified earlier-leading to knowledge of how and when a patient contracted the dangerous hospital infection. It seems the fear of lawsuits versus patient safety outweighs any preventative measures against the MRSA hospital infection.