Being Afraid of Infectious Disease

The more technical the study sounds, the less likely it delivers good news. Good news is usually trumpeted in catchy headlines, not buried in scientific lingo. So when you see a study called “Efficacy of the Decolonization of MRSA Carriers in Clinical Practice,” you can assume it isn’t good. And it isn’t.

The researchers attempted to determine whether or not there was a way to kill methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in the nasal area of patients. MRSA in these areas often leads to infection elsewhere in the body, and researchers hoped that finding a way to kill the bacteria before it could spread could have beneficial effects.

The findings were depressing:

• Only 39 percent of patients were successfully decolonized
• After two failures, there was little reason to bother with future attempts
• The infection rate for the failures was similar to the infection rate for individuals in the control group

MRSA is notoriously difficult to control in any setting, and so far medical science has failed to find a way to consistently kill this devastating bacteria. Many, if not most, MRSA infections occur after exposure in a clinical setting, as hospitals and other medical settings struggle to properly sanitize and sterilize their instruments.

As it is, hospitals have little reason to put all their resources into proper sterilization of equipment and surfaces, because they are rarely held responsible for their negligence. If a patient gets sick, the hospital simply claims it did all it could to make things safe. This is rarely true.

If you or someone you love has become infected with MRSA, you know how difficult this disease is to treat. You are likely spending large quantities of money hoping to get better, but there is no guarantee you ever will. When determining where you contracted the disease, look first to medical establishments, the most common source of infection. An experienced attorney will know the proper questions to ask to find out the truth behind your illness.