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 Forum index » Archive » Archive: Orbital Colony » Orbital Colony: General/Updates
[UPDATE] The Inept 12/30/05
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Dionysus
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Joined: 18 Nov 2005
Posts: 609
Location: Philadelphia Area

 		[UPDATE] The Inept 12/30/05
Quote:
nosocomial infections: how safe is your medical center?
December 30th, 2005

Why do I come back again to this subject of hospital acquired illnesses? Because 10% of US patients alone will contract a second infection while in the hospital. This in the USA where the medical industry is better funded than in other less developed nations - just think of how high their numbers must be!

In the USA alone, nosocomial infections account for 80,000 deaths per year. That is 6,666 per month, 1,538 per week, 219 per day, 9 per hour.* Nine people an hour die from infections they got after they arrived at the hospital!

The bacteria responsible for these illnesses come primarily from three places. The first are those generally found on normal healthy skin that can, under the proper circumstances infect a cut in the skin. The second group is bacteria that live in our gastro-intestinal tract under normal healthy circumstances. The third group is bacteria that live on every surface – even the cleanest places can't completely remove this group.

There are several ways that these bacteria can infect a person in a hospital. Most rely on human mistakes to cause the infection. A janitor uses a little less bleach in the mop water, or fails to change the water frequently enough to kill all the bacteria on the floors, a nurse fails to wash his hands, a doctor doesn't bother to put on gloves, all to save a few moments of time. A catheter sits exposed to air just a few minutes too long, allowing bacteria to be disturbed from the floor or other surfaces and float over on to the clean tray where all the tools are laid out.

Hospitals generally are considered much cleaner than your home, a restaurant, or a library. But still the incidence of secondary infection is high. Reducing these numbers takes something that many places find too costly - hiring a few more employees to handle the additional work required to dump the buckets of dirty water more frequently and providing enough nursing staff so they are not rushed from patient to patient, skipping necessary routines that would prevent infection. While having UV lights in areas that do not have patient traffic 24 hours a day does reduce the risk of surface borne infections like Pseudomonas, not every hospital can afford the cost of such measures. However, all hospitals can afford a very inexpensive disinfectant – Bleach. Bleach is a broad-spectrum disinfectant that kills bacteria, fungus and viruses. ** Bleach is also widely available at low cost. So, what prevents hospitals from simply wiping down all exposed surfaces with bleach? The cost of manpower. They don't want to hire additional workers.

You should feel comforted that while most doctors, nurses and medical support personnel do want to see you get better. It is the hospital administration that doesn't want to spend the money to insure that you have the best chance of recovering in the cleanest environment. Take a look around you the next time you find yourself sitting in a waiting room. Ask yourself, do they value my health enough to hire the workers necessary to keep the building in the cleanest condition, or are there cobwebs in the corners, and dust bunnies under the beds?

Cassandra

'* CDC/NNIS 1992, quoted in http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/n/nosocomial_infections/stats.htm
'** http://www.info.gov.hk/dh/diseases/ap/eng/useofbleach.htm
http://www.mansfield.ohio-state.edu/~sabedon/biol2053.htm


There ya go.
_________________
"Of course, I've been wrong before - stupid lowercase 'e'"
Played: Orbital Colony, Find Araya, Who Is Ben Stove, part of Catching the Wish
Playing: Aporia Agathon, 8 Days/Thirteen Light, Alpha Agents
Waiting On: Luce's Lover's Eye

PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 10:01 am
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Ofiuco
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Joined: 27 Nov 2005
Posts: 365
Location: The Void

 		Oo, I've got the perfect point to skewer her on!

PostPosted: Fri Dec 30, 2005 11:16 am
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