The Difficulties of Treating MRSA
MRSA is difficult to treat because of it's resistance. Acquired immune
processes include the body's adaptive response to antibiotics. ie when
given the body makes specific antibodies to combat MRSA by destroying
it's outer membrane. Antibiotics can be given orally or through
injections. The main antibiotics used are vancomycin and rifampicin
and they are most effective when used in combination. If it's used
early then it can eradicate the infection within 48 hours. Moreover,
as a preventative measure it may be given immediately after surgery
(particularly invasive techniques.) Vancomycin is considered the "last
line of defence" but alone it may be ineffective as, although rare in
the UK certain strains of (non-classic) MRSA can be resistant to the
antibiotic(s.)
Vancomycin can also have serious side effects. Patients can develop
experience liver and kidney damage. Alternative antibiotics in use are
linezolid and flucloxacillin.
Flucloxacillin is more common in community practice. In l994 a warning
was placed on the listing of its use due to a possible association
with cholestatic hepatitis. However, with MRSA infections, the
morbidity and potential mortality are high and the benefits of
flucloxacillin far outweigh the risks.
Linezolid is also effective. Infact, it may be equivalent to
Vancomycin in the treatment of MRSA infections. Research conducted by
the Department of Veterans Affairs concluded that this is safer than
vancomycin
There is also a class of antibiotics which may work on destroying the
biofilm MRSA cause on medical equipment such as catheters. The biofilm
provide MRS...
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... Additional alternatives include creams and shampoos may also be used.
This may be for pets as well as the patient, because domestic animals
may carry the MRSA in their coats and transmit it to those who are
vulnerable. New research has found a compound that occurs naturally in
garlic called allicin and this has been developed into a cream for
people with MRSA. It is highly effective against MRSA and can be
applied to the skin and nostrils.
A new nasal spray has also been developed. It contains phages which
when sprayed in the nose or even work surfaces kill MRSA.
Assuming the infection is around a sore, further alternatives to
antibiotics include draining the sore. The Government has emphasised
that hospitals should use less antibiotics to limit the opportunity
for bacteria to develop resistance (opportunistic.)
...d rectal thermometers and transmission by hands after touching IV or urinary catheters. Enterococci can be intrinsic and can tolerate or resist beta-lactam antibiotics due to containing penicillin-binding proteins. That means they are still able to combine cell wall components. There can be acquired resistance of Enterococci that comprises of resistance to penicillin by beta-lactamases, chloramphenicol, tetracyclines, rifampin, fluoroquinolones, aminoglycosides, and vancomycin. There is a potential for cell-wall synthesis because the genes that encrypt intrinsic or acquired vancomycin resistance produce in a peptide to which vancomycin cannot connect. Unfortunately, due to the resistance of penicillin, Enterococci can be inhibited but cannot be killed. Health care professionals are left with limited therapeutic therapy that can be effective in the treatment of VRE.
A common healthcare acquired infection that is seen both inside and outside of the hospital is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA can have detrimental effects on the patient and is usually acquired within the hospital setting. The PICOT statement has many important aspects to include such as: population, intervention, comparison, outcome, and time, which is used to produce an evidence-based question. According to Schmidt & Brown (2012), the PICOT statement is used in evidence-based practice is to make decisions about patient care based on evidence with clinical expertise appraisal and current research while also considering patient preferences and values. The PICOT statement: In patients between the ages of 30 and 70 admitted
Biological evolution is defined as any genetic change in a population that is inherited over several, successive generations. (R.Bailey, 2014) The changes accumulate and over time a new species is created. One of the basic mechanisms of evolution is Natural Selection. Natural Selection is random genetic variation occurring within an organisms DNA and the beneficial mutations being preserved because they aid survival. (C.Darwin, 1859) Two notable scientists associated with the theory of evolution include Charles Darwin and Jean-Baptiste Lamarck.
V. (2000). Effectiveness of a hospital-wide programme to improve compliance with hand hygiene. The Lancet, 356(9238), 1307-1312.
Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus is similar to regular hospital acquired MRSA in that it is resistant to cefazolin, and antibiotics similar to cefazolin. However, it differs from MRSA in that it doesn't display MRSA’s common risk factors, and is susceptible to other various antibiotics.
Antibiotic resistance is one of the most important issues facing health care today, with wide reaching future implications if abuse continues. In the United States alone, antibiotic resistance is responsible for over two million illnesses and 23,000 deaths per year. Providers need to be judicious in the disbursement of these life saving pharmacological agents, while being informative of why antibiotics are not always the answer (Talkington, Cairns, Dolen, & Mothershed, 2014). In the case listed below, several issues need to be addressed including perception, knowledge deficit, and the caregiver’s role. This paper will focus on whether a prescription for antibiotics is appropriate and other courses of action that may be taken instead.
There was a case that I observed a fellow nurse admitting a patient with MRSA. The patient had Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus also known as MRSA to a surgical wound. Isolation precautions were used per facility protocol causing concern and questions from the patient and family.
The transmission of methicillin resistance to Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in hospital and community settings, with increasingly higher occurrences, is a big clinical problem for the management of serious infections worldwide. Studying how MRSA evolves is important to understand how to thwart the continued adaptation of this pathogen. In this review, I analyze two of the current hypothesis for MRSA evolution. The first is that the bacteria are first exposed to the antibiotic, but the prescription is not completed, and often results in nosocomial infections in subsequent
The role of nurses in the prevention of MRSA in the hospitals cannot be overemphasized. The prevalence of MRSA in hospitals calls for awareness and sensitization of all party involved in patient caregiving in the hospital. According to Wilkinson and Treas (2011), nurses take on many roles in the hospital: a caregiver, advocate, communicator, leader, manager counsellor, change agent and an educator. (Wilkinson &Treas. (2011) p.13.) The target of healthy people 2020 is to reduce MRSA and all other hospital acquired infection by 75% in the year 2020. (Healthy people 2020) This cannot be achieved without the maximum support of nurses because nurses have regular one on one contact with patients on daily basis.This paper will take a closer look at the role of a nurse as an educator in the prevention of MRSA in the hospital. One of the nurse’s roles in the prevention of MRSA in hospitals is patient/visitor/staff education.
Recent studies have shown that chlorhexidine is an overall better antiseptic than povidone iodine. Chlorhexidine has lower infection rates, decreased risk of adverse effects, and provides longer protection against newly introduced bacteria. In a study conducted in gynecological surgeries, the chlorhexidine groups rate of infection was only 4.5%, compared to povidone iodine’s infection rate of 14.6% (Levin, Amer-Alshiek, Avni, Lessing, Satel, Almog, 2011).
However, increasing antibiotic resistance patterns among intensive care unit pathogens, cultivated by empiric-broad spectrum antibiotic regimens, characterizes the variable concerns. Recent literature point that antibiotic use before the development of VAP is associated with increased risk for potentially resistant gran-negative infections and Methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus auereus (MRSA)
Healthcare-associated infections are a big issue in hospitals. They are the highest cause of morbidity and mortality rates in hospitalized patients. Due to increasing prevention methods, there has been a decrease in infections, but there is still a way to go. In detail, common infections are central line-associated bloodstream infections, catheter care urinary tract infections, surgical site infections and transmission of Clostridium difficile.
In the last decade, the number of prescriptions for antibiotics has increases. Even though, antibiotics are helpful, an excess amount of antibiotics can be dangerous. Quite often antibiotics are wrongly prescribed to cure viruses when they are meant to target bacteria. Antibiotics are a type of medicine that is prone to kill microorganisms, or bacteria. By examining the PBS documentary Hunting the Nightmare Bacteria and the article “U.S. government taps GlaxoSmithKline for New Antibiotics” by Ben Hirschler as well as a few other articles can help depict the problem that is of doctors prescribing antibiotics wrongly or excessively, which can led to becoming harmful to the body.
The most effective way to combat pathogenic bacteria which invade the body is the use of antibiotics. Overexposure to antibiotics can easily lead to resistant strains of bacteria. Resistance is dangerous because bacteria can easily spread from person to person. Simple methods for preventing excessive bacterial spread are often overlooked. Not all preventative measures are even adequate. Doctors and patients often use antibiotics unnecessarily or incorrectly, leading to greater resistance. Antibiotics are used heavily in livestock and this excessive antibiotic use can create resistant bacteria and transfer them to humans. In order to reduce resistant bacteria,
MRSA is a major source of healthcare associated diseases, increased hospital mortality, and leading surgical site infection (Jennings, Bennett, Fisher, & Cook, 2014, p. 83). With the implementation of active surveillance screening and contact isolations program, an overall decrease in hospital associated MRSA infections has been observed (Jennings, Bennett, Fisher, & Cook, 2014, p. 83). The author of this paper will identify a theory that can be used to support the proposed intervention i.e., reduce the transmission of MRSA by active screening in patients at high-risk for MRSA on admission. This paper will then describe the selected theory, and rational for the selection, and how this theory will support the proposed solution and how to incorporate this theory in this project.