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'Superbug' spreading to Southern California hospitals, killing 40% of those infected

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posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:25 PM
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'Superbug' spreading to Southern California hospitals

A dangerous drug-resistant bacterium has spread to patients in Southern California, according to a study by Los Angeles County public health officials.

More than 350 cases of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae, or CRKP, have been reported at healthcare facilities in Los Angeles County, mostly among elderly patients at skilled-nursing and long-term care facilities, according to a study by Dr. Dawn Tera#a, an epidemiologist with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.

It was not clear from the study how many of the infections proved fatal, but other studies in the U.S. and Israel have shown that about 40% of patients with the infection die. Tere#a was not available for comment Thursday morning but was scheduled to speak about the study in the afternoon.

The pathogen is even resistant to specialized drugs developed to treat difficult infections. "This is considered a threat to patient safety," according to the county, because such antibiotics "often are the last line of defense."


And it's in several states...

"We've been monitoring the rise of this organism for a few years at CDC," he said. "Initially, it was first described in North Carolina, and then we started getting reports in the New York and New Jersey area. We are seeing reports of this organism all over the country now."


But so far it has not spread outside of hospitals...

He stressed that unlike MRSA and other superbugs, CRKP has not spread in communities but remains confined to healthcare facilities.

"The key is that it remains pretty rare in most places," he said, although, "there are pockets of the country where they are encountering this a lot, like New York City."

Good, for now.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:30 PM
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Reply to post by Vitchilo
 


Praying for Californians that they will be ok and this bug won't spread. The last thing they need are more virus infections.


 
Posted Via ATS Mobile: m.abovetopsecret.com
 



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:33 PM
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confined to hospitals?

Why does my wacky conspiracy mind race to conclusions on that tidbit of information...aha, thats one way to drop the healthcare costs..make hospitals a hazard to go to and people will choose to tough it out in their home verses goto the hospital.

ok, wacky conspiracy theory over.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:35 PM
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Woah...I know someone in Massachusetts who just went out sick from sinus infection/pneumonia...Another person with an MRSA infection...

It might be more widespread than they report.


edit: I know even more people with a cold/cough at the moment. Those couldjust be spring allergies from snow melt...Still feels weird.
edit on 25-3-2011 by BadMagician because: edit



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:36 PM
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Sounds like population control to me. Start with the elderly to see if it works, and move on to overpopulated areas. Start of a good conspiracy in my eyes. How about your eyes??



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:44 PM
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I wonder why this is only happening in hospitals and nursing homes?
edit on 25-3-2011 by Under Water because: (no reason given)



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 01:57 PM
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Originally posted by Chrisfishenstein
Sounds like population control to me. Start with the elderly to see if it works, and move on to overpopulated areas. Start of a good conspiracy in my eyes. How about your eyes??


really? wern't people like you silenced after the H1N1 fear mongering proved to be a hoax? well i am glad you have another illness you can twist into something sinister.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 02:09 PM
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reply to post by Under Water
 


I think it always starts with the elderly so nobody catches on that they are testing a new chemical weapon.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 02:16 PM
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Originally posted by Under Water
I wonder why this is only happening in hospitals and nursing homes?
edit on 25-3-2011 by Under Water because: (no reason given)


Hospitals: sick people congregate there.

Nurses Homes: Old, weak immune systems congregate there.





posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 02:22 PM
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Originally posted by boncho

Originally posted by Under Water
I wonder why this is only happening in hospitals and nursing homes?
edit on 25-3-2011 by Under Water because: (no reason given)


Hospitals: sick people congregate there.

Nurses Homes: Old, weak immune systems congregate there.




I realize this, but it almost sounds contained to these places, as if it's controlled. I'm just wondering if there are any cases outside of hospitals and nursing homes. Surely these people have families that visit them that could get contaminated if it was really a "superbug" of sorts.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 02:45 PM
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My son and I are both sick right now. For two weeks, he has had fluid behind his eardrum and I have had what I am told is bronchitis and a sinus infection. My son has been to the care center twice. The second one gave him an antibiotic yesterday, so we will see how that works out. The previous center gave him a script for an antihistimine and a steroid nasal spray. His condition worsened to an ear infection, hence, the antibiotics. My condition is aggravated by asthma, but the medical professionals in our area don't seem to be bothered by the nearly 100% exacerbation of it. At least yesterday, I got a chest x-ray, but they read it as clear. Meanwhile, I hack out a lung almost constantly and my chest muscles hurt so bad that I wish I could stop breathing for about five minutes and rest. I am also on antibiotics, supposedly the strongest, and have not seen any real relief. I am scared for mine and my son's health, but can't seem to get any help from the medical community. I was formerly a respiratory therapist and I know the dangers of asthma with underlying disorders, but the docs just kind of pooh pooh me off. In my time working in medicine, I treated people in the hospital that were less sick than I am right now. I can't help but think it has to do with my being a Medicare patient. You know how the government don't like to pay their bills. I wonder if the hospitals are trying to save money by treating as an outpatient as much as possible. I bet if I had good insurance, I'd be in a hospital bed right now with an antibiotic drip and round the clock nebulizer treatments. I'm so sick of "only the rich are good enough". Do we really want them to be all that's left? The lower classes seem to be where the common sense is.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 04:12 PM
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The things that go around in a nursing home are terrible.

My father just entered such a home last year due to the number of strokes he has had. Last year he was in a nursing home in another county and he slipped and hit his foot on a wall in the cleaning area (despite the "help" that was there) and got an abrasion on his foot. Over time it got infected, whether from the initial scrape or just poor care is not known.

Around this time I moved him to a nursing facility in the city I live in so that I could see him more often. I would take care of him but he needs full time care and with a job and family I just cannot make it work, that and I have no training for such care.

Not long after moving into this facility the wound had gotten even worse. No amount of antibiotics were even touching the infection, which was at this point a bone infection. His foot and lower leg reminded me of my aunt who had diabetes. The infection was so bad because he had low blood circulation in his legs. To make a long story short he lost his right leg just above the knee, and his left leg is of little use and has low circulation as well.

After the surgery he seems to be much better his spirits are up and seems to be who he was before the infection that was rotting his foot and leg the whole time.

I hate the nursing facilities and hospitals. I feel disgusted and do not like touching anything when I go into them.

Raist



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 04:17 PM
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reply to post by Vitchilo
 


There are natural consequences of everything we do, including keeping sick people in close confines and going to war with bacteria and such via antibiotics and such.

They have to evolve to live, and they can evolve faster than we can create new antibiotics.

Its only a matter of time before something arises that will kick us in the teeth on a broad scale.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 07:32 PM
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My biggest worry is that when you have something like this that affects the elderly, 9 times out of ten it can also affect newborns as they are just as vulnerable.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 07:51 PM
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reply to post by Tasty Canadian
 


Indeed. And not just newborns. My good friend lost a grand daughter several years ago to a "super infection." She was 3. The very young who do not have well developed immune systems, and the very old, whose immune systems are wearing out tend to die the most.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 07:54 PM
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Originally posted by SaturnFX
confined to hospitals?

Why does my wacky conspiracy mind race to conclusions on that tidbit of information...aha, thats one way to drop the healthcare costs..make hospitals a hazard to go to and people will choose to tough it out in their home verses goto the hospital.

ok, wacky conspiracy theory over.


Never thought of that, and maybe to lower the medicare/medicaid/social security and the other dozens of programs by getting rid of them



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 08:58 PM
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A new super bug is on your door step, waiting to crawl up, through your nose, mouth, and into your blood!!!

This is caused by the pharmaceutical companies, no conspiracy there!!
If you have a cold and you go to the doctors, ANTIBIOTICS!
If you have the flu ANTIBIOTICS!

PUSHING DOCTORS to prescribe ANTIBIOTICS FOR EVERYTHING!!
Well I hope I am not the first to tell you these companies are making billions off these antibiotics being prescribed for anything and everything!! Why you ask? So a NEW SUPER BUG IS MADE THAT CAN KILL YOU.. One that they can make A NEW ANTIBIOTIC for to make it all better...
RE-cycle, rinse, REPEAT!

BIG PHARMA BACK OFF!!!

Even if this is not some lab released virus on purpose, it is big pharma pushing these antibiotics that is breeding these super bugs... One day it will be a really bad super bug that they can not stop and here is your DE-population nightmares come true..

Don't take all these antibiotics folks, a flu is GOOD FOR YOU sometimes!!!!!



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 09:15 PM
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Originally posted by Raist
The things that go around in a nursing home are terrible.

My father just entered such a home last year due to the number of strokes he has had. Last year he was in a nursing home in another county and he slipped and hit his foot on a wall in the cleaning area (despite the "help" that was there) and got an abrasion on his foot. Over time it got infected, whether from the initial scrape or just poor care is not known.

Around this time I moved him to a nursing facility in the city I live in so that I could see him more often. I would take care of him but he needs full time care and with a job and family I just cannot make it work, that and I have no training for such care.

Not long after moving into this facility the wound had gotten even worse. No amount of antibiotics were even touching the infection, which was at this point a bone infection. His foot and lower leg reminded me of my aunt who had diabetes. The infection was so bad because he had low blood circulation in his legs. To make a long story short he lost his right leg just above the knee, and his left leg is of little use and has low circulation as well.

After the surgery he seems to be much better his spirits are up and seems to be who he was before the infection that was rotting his foot and leg the whole time.

I hate the nursing facilities and hospitals. I feel disgusted and do not like touching anything when I go into them.

Raist


I am sad to hear that your father had to lose his leg. In defence of your part ''despite the 'help' that was there" I work in a nursing home. Sadly there are never enough of us to be able to concentrate on each individual resident, at least in the U.K. Whilst the staff try their best to avoid accidents like this they do happen. It is not necessarily that the care givers aren't doing their job properly because most of us are. Please don't lump all nursing facilities (and staff) into the same box. I know we are expected to be miracle workers but we aren't. We work hard looking after your loved ones and try to treat them as our own. It upsets us too when something happens. If you have any issues with the care your father recieves don't ever hesitate in asking for a meeting to discuss this with the management. If you feel they haven't been satisfactory then take it to your local care quality moniters (CQC in the U.K).
It is hard seeing the person you thought would live forever and be that superhero you remember have to be cared for by a stranger but please know that us good ones far out number any bad ones

I am glad he seems more himself again now he has moved and I hope you have more happy memories now




To the OP sorry, back on topic.... Overuse of antibiotics is proven to cause a resistance building up in some nasty bugs so this does not surprise me one little bit. People are TOO clean and TOO germ free these days. Peoples immue systems don't have a chance to build themselves up anymore and it's going to carry on and get worse with the children as they grow. Nothing wrong with letting them get muddy or wet or any of the things we used to as children. Hyper cleanliness, abundance of antibiotics, drugs for everything.... it's a timebomb.



posted on Mar, 25 2011 @ 09:29 PM
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reply to post by hillynilly
 


Sadly though, it isnt all doctors pushing for big Pharma, I know people personally who go to the doctor for every single cold or flu, and WILL NOT LEAVE without an antibiotic. Even though being the annoying nerd I am I have personally explained to them numerous times that colds and flues dont respond to antibiotics. They dont care. They dont feel cared for unless they have a pill, preferably an antibiotic.



posted on Mar, 26 2011 @ 02:08 PM
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Here is vid report of this and I recommend watching it. The embedding is disabled but here's the link:
SuperBug Report - LA

Additional Related vid:


Dang, what happened to last decade's "superbug" MRSA? This one is even more powerful!!
Is this the super superbug now? Think Big Pharma's paying attention? Hmmmm, antibioitic overkill to spur the bug, then costly medicine to treat the bug. Sounds like a win/win for em'!
Although they say new anti-biotics or treatment is years away now....great.
Let's hope this is more hype than reality, but these days, who knows?
Think I'll go play in the dirt for a while....

Peace,
spec
edit on 26-3-2011 by speculativeoptimist because: sp




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