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‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

reuters.com

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Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#11

Post by danvayn »

apathy wrote: post #10
danso wrote: post #4

Really fascinating to me how some of the problem originates from the lack of proper coding standards: > As examples in this article show, superbug infections are often omitted from death certificates. But even when they are recorded, NCHS can’t feed that information into vital statistics: The World Health Organization (WHO) classification system the agency uses lacks mortality codes for most drug-resistant infections…

Part of the issue is assigning "cause" (singular) of death. I'm still kind of shocked that there isn't mandatory reporting of bacterial vectors (when identified) the way there is for (eg) tumors. Sepsis is common enough that positive identification of the primary strain(s) involved could be a huge unfunded mandate, though, and judging by the way Zika is going, unfunded is being optimistic.

I wouldn't say sepsis is that common. More with the elderly and alcoholic crowds, but not generally speaking

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#12

Post by okket »

fernly wrote: post #2

The question that comes to my mind is, are the European countries doing any better in tracking MRSA, etc. infections? They certainly exist. One might hope a more centralized health-care system, not balkanized like the USA one[1], would keep better records. Do they?

The Dutch have a MRSA strategy they call "Search and Destroy" with harsh quarantine regulations for non-native patients.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/combating-deadly...

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#13

Post by openasocket »

danvayn wrote: post #11
apathy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the issue is assigning "cause" (singular) of death. I'm still kind of shocked that there isn't mandatory reporting of bacterial vectors (when identified) the way there is for (eg) tumors. Sepsis is common enough that positive identification of the primary strain(s) involved could be a huge unfunded mandate, though, and judging by the way Zika is going, unfunded is being optimistic.

I wouldn't say sepsis is that common. More with the elderly and alcoholic crowds, but not generally speaking

From the wikipedia page, it seems more common than you would think. In the US it is the 10th most common cause of death, and globally kills 200k a year.

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#14

Post by esaym »

I skimmed the article, I only saw mention of MRSA. Is that the "super bug" they talk about? This is for the most part why I won't step foot in a hospital unless I am literally on my death bed. The last research I read about MRSA (years ago) was it was hard to study because lab rats could not be easily infected with it unless it was directly injected into their blood stream. This shows just how nasty hospitals are. Nobody gets MRSA unless they are in the hospital.

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#15

Post by apathy »

codezero wrote: post #5

My mother in law, a healthy 50 year old, recently died of an unspecified infection. They still don't know what it was or why antibiotics weren't helping. Ultimately, her lungs gave out after more than a week on life support. Was it a superbug? Dunno, and nothing in her medical record leaves any indication that it might have been, the world just moved on.

Condolences, it's rough when someone close is taken suddenly. Can't brace yourself for something you can't see coming.

Part of the problem is the sheer volume of such cases -- where did the infection come from? Why did it get worse so fast? Was it bacterial, viral, fungal? The diversity of microbial life on earth is so vast, and the rate of evolution so quick, that any one center is going to be hard pressed to keep up just cataloging new strains, let alone figuring out what sequence of drugs to try.

This is why it is a national tragedy (at least in the US) that we don't put more emphasis on funding the CDC. Other countries do better or worse, and particularly some states like Minnesota do a lot more. But I can reasonably guarantee that the possibility of humanity being devastated by an easily transmitted bacterial or viral vector is greater than anything a YF-22A is likely to ward off. A centralized repository and clearinghouse can do so much more than any one center, even the richest hospitals, because it can (in principle) see everything at every center. Just needs enough funding and oversight to get the job done.

I recognize that nothing can bring your MIL back, but perhaps if the CDC were given a bit more respect (instead of being a political football to defund abortion and legalize Confederate flags, as at the present), you might have some answers and the next person in that situation might pull through. No guarantees in life, but it seems like a higher expected return on investment than many government priorities. JMHO.

Sorry for your loss, and the open questions around it.

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#16

Post by jkot »

fernly wrote: post #2

The question that comes to my mind is, are the European countries doing any better in tracking MRSA, etc. infections? They certainly exist. One might hope a more centralized health-care system, not balkanized like the USA one[1], would keep better records. Do they?

I think 'balkanized' is good word to describe some health-care systems in Europe.

However I think there is a basic difference in approach. Hospitals in europe are usually uber clean, everything is desinfected and there is a small army of cleaners. My impression from US is that McDonnald was cleaner than hospital.

Second difference is post-operation treatment. People in weakened state are left in hospital for a few days for monitoring. With broken immune system (after chemotherapy) you get into strict hermetic isolation. In US leukemia patients go to hotel after treatments.

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#17

Post by ocschwar »

Bear in mind that in the US, our lovely republican party literally made it illegal to research where the superbugs are being bred.

In the US, the problem is mostly pig and cattle feedlots that rely on antibiotics to keep the animals from being sickened but he crowding. Naturally, there is no proof that superbugs are coming out of the feedlots, because the feedlot owners do not allow any sort of sample collection by scientists.

Now comes the GOP with the "ag-gag" laws, which don't just ban sneaking into these feedlots with cameras. They also ban the smuggling of manure samples from the feedlots.

This is the GOP's war on science: they literally criminalize it.

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#18

Post by apathy »

danvayn wrote: post #11
apathy wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Part of the issue is assigning "cause" (singular) of death. I'm still kind of shocked that there isn't mandatory reporting of bacterial vectors (when identified) the way there is for (eg) tumors. Sepsis is common enough that positive identification of the primary strain(s) involved could be a huge unfunded mandate, though, and judging by the way Zika is going, unfunded is being optimistic.

I wouldn't say sepsis is that common. More with the elderly and alcoholic crowds, but not generally speaking

Fastest growing source of CMS billings over the past 10 years and one of the top 20 causes of death overall. In the US, it seems that nosocomial cases are rising faster than expected (larger proportion of the total) which is especially worrying.

As far as the "old" crowd -- who gets sick most often?! It certainly isn't strapping young men and women, not in any hospital I've ever been in outside of a war zone.

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#19

Post by cdelsolar »

gruyere wrote: post #8
chmaynard wrote: post #7

I'm sorry for your loss.

wtf is wrong with you? Edit: commenter made a pretty robotic and insensitive comment. My comment is not constructive, however it can be important to let people know when their behavior or words will have a negative impact on others. A more appropriate response would have been "Wow, that's both insensitive and unnecessary. Perhaps you should reconsider your phrasing."

?

Re: ‘Superbug’ scourge spreads as U.S. fails to track rising human toll

#20

Post by anonymfus »

gruyere wrote: post #8
chmaynard wrote: post #7

I'm sorry for your loss.

wtf is wrong with you? Edit: commenter made a pretty robotic and insensitive comment. My comment is not constructive, however it can be important to let people know when their behavior or words will have a negative impact on others. A more appropriate response would have been "Wow, that's both insensitive and unnecessary. Perhaps you should reconsider your phrasing."

Non-native speaker here, I would probably express my condolence in the same way ("I'm sorry for your loss"). What is so wrong with these words that they deserve WTF?
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