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Deadly Drug-Resistant Fungus Sparks Outbreaks In UK (arstechnica.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: More than 200 patients in more than 55 UK hospitals were discovered by healthcare workers to be infected or colonized by the multi-drug resistant fungus Candida auris, a globally emerging yeast pathogen that has experts nervous. Three of the hospitals experienced large outbreaks, which as of Monday were all declared officially over by health authorities there. No deaths have been reported since the fungus was first detected in the country in 2013, but 27 affected patients have developed blood infections, which can be life-threatening. And about a quarter of the more than 200 cases were clinical infections. Officials in the UK aimed to assuage fear of the fungus and assure patients that hospitals were safe. "Our enhanced surveillance shows a low risk to patients in healthcare settings. Most cases detected have not shown symptoms or developed an infection as a result of the fungus," Dr Colin Brown, of Public Health England's national infection service, told the BBC.
Yet, public health experts are uneasy about the rapid emergence and level of drug resistance the pathogen is showing. In a surveillance update in July, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that C. auris "presents a serious global health threat." It was first identified in the ear of a patient in Japan in 2009. Since then, it has spread swiftly, showing up in more than a dozen countries, including the U.S., according to the CDC. So far, health officials have reported around 100 infections in nine U.S. states and more than 100 other cases where the fungus was detected but wasn't causing an infection.
Yet, public health experts are uneasy about the rapid emergence and level of drug resistance the pathogen is showing. In a surveillance update in July, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that C. auris "presents a serious global health threat." It was first identified in the ear of a patient in Japan in 2009. Since then, it has spread swiftly, showing up in more than a dozen countries, including the U.S., according to the CDC. So far, health officials have reported around 100 infections in nine U.S. states and more than 100 other cases where the fungus was detected but wasn't causing an infection.
USA
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
The National Institutes of Health
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Plus all of the different insurance companies, hospitals, etc etc etc
US hospitals are required to do whatever it takes to save a life. Other countries have more reasonable policies.
That saved me after a motorcycle accident. I was rearended on I-405 in the Seattle area while stopped. The truck that hit me was doing an estimated 45 MPH according to the police report. I had seven surgeries of which three were needed to save my life. I wasn't asked about health insurance coverage until I was being discharged. My wife that was a nurse in the UK for 13 years said that in the UK, they would have just let me die. Health care in the US is expensive, but if you need it, it will save your life. It sucks having a $150k medical bill, but it's better than being left for dead.
Not a doctor, but there is only a little overlap between antibiotics and antifungal medications. This stuff is resistant to Diflucan (I'm not trying to spell the generic name correctly right now), which is often handed out with much less oversight than antibiotics. Any bio-female could probably get a few doses for a yeast infection without seeing their doctor; calling in and asking is all most require since it is a common ailment.
The problem is that many primary care doctors have been told that C. albicans (the common human strain) can not become resistant. I was told the same, only to be corrected by a very indignant Tropical and Infectious Disease specialist who had seen that first line drug become useless in a few cases.
But this doesn't mean we need to panic and shut down Madagascar. There are other classes of drugs, like the old standby nystatin, and other families of antifungal medications in the larger azole drug category. This should be treatable if caught early. The danger is that drugs like nystatin can not be absorbed so they only treat dermal or gastric infections, while amphotericin B (same class) does kidney damage at the effective dose. So someone who has a systemic infection is going to only have treatments available that cause as much damage as they are trying to prevent. And hospital acquired infections can become systemic very quickly.
I'm waiting for west nile to return. Maybe in 20 years.
Well thats ironic, because people die every year from west nile. 84 in 2016
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...
It's a drug resistant variant of a deadly fungus we've seen before. There have been no deaths from this outbreak, but that doesn't change that the fungus is deadly.
At some point in every Ebola outbreak, there are sick people but no deaths. We still know that Ebola is deadly at that time.
Your ad here. Ask me how!
Use potassium permanganate. Just buy some of the powder off ebay (whatever size you buy will last the rest of your life). Put a small amount in some warm water. When I say small amount, I mean small. Like the amount that you can get on the end of a house key. You want enough water to cover your feet, and enough potassium permanganate to dye the water a light pink. If it's purple, you used too much. If it's dark, you went way, way too far. Anyway, you can also add some epsom salt to the water. Make sure it's nice and warm, and soak your feet for a half-hour every couple of days until it clears up. Trust me, it will. In order for it to work, you'll need to treat your shoes with boric acid (again, ebay. Get a big bag.). A good dusting is all you need. Also, wash your socks in hot water, and keep your socks on around the house. Bleach your shower and bathroom floor daily. It's all easy stuff. Follow the protocol and your athlete's foot will be gone.
Try living in Sweden. I have 30km to the closes "first aid hut" and If I try to see a doctor I am given a time and when I show up I am told to f*ck off and try again later.
Have ya considered moving back to civilization?
In the USA, we don't have hospitals out in the wilderness either.
One great plus about "repeal and replace" - the Medicaid cuts would close many smaller hospitals serving smaller communities. Those who voted for the republicans just don't realize yet that they'd voted for the deaths of family members.