New Diseases Term Paper

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New Diseases

The proliferation of antibiotic-resistant organisms has been the topic of much debate for many years. The overuse of antibiotics has created new strains of disease that no longer respond to antibiotics. The purpose of this paper is to discuss two of the most common antibiotic-resistant organisms; Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA) and Vancomycin-Resistant Enterococci (VRE). (Control of Antibiotic Resistant Organisms in Home Settings 2003)

Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus (MRSA)

Staphylococcus aureus is a germ that is often found in wounds or in the nose. Methicillin is the antibiotic that can effectively treat this bacterium, but in some cases the bacteria has become resistant to Methicillin. (Control of Antibiotic Resistant Organisms in Home Settings 2003) An article in the Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics, explains that MRSA was first discovered in the 1960's when physicians first begun to use Methicillin. (Tiwary 2003) The journal asserts that by 1992 40% of Staphylococcus aureus cases in America were MRSA. (Tiwary 2003)

The bacterium is usually spread through contact with other people that are colonized or infected with the germ. (Control of Antibiotic Resistant Organisms in Home Settings 2003) According to the Virginia Department of Health "The germ can be spread by direct contact with the person or by the hands of someone caring for the person touching others before washing hands. MRSA can survive for an hour or more on environmental surfaces such as floors, sinks, blood pressure cuffs, etc. But these are NOT the most likely source of spread.

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" (Control of Antibiotic Resistant Organisms in Home Settings 2003) book entitled The Antibiotic Paradox: How Miracle Drugs Are Destroying the Miracle, explains that hospitals in Perth, Australia go to great measures to prevent the disease from spreading. The measures that the hospitals have taken have been successful in reducing the spread of the disease.

According to the book,

In order to safeguard their hospitals from multiply resistant Staphylococcus aureus, medical personnel place all new patients entering any hospital in Perth into an isolation area first. There the patient is tested for the presence of the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Those new patients who are not colonized by MRSA can go on to the normal hospital wards. If a MRSA microorganism is found on a patient, however, this person is placed in a ward with other patients colonized with this potentially dangerous and easily spread microorganism. Various means are used to eradicate the microorganism. Nonetheless, if the patient has an indwelling catheter or other foreign object in place, no treatment can eliminate all of the microorganisms that find hiding places in and on these objects. In such instances, the patient must stay in these designated MRSA areas throughout the hospitalization. By this single measure of isolating patients with MRSA, the hospitals in Perth have kept MRSA under control and the frequency of these strains is now among the….....

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