By Abilene Reporter-News
That need is emphasized by recent reports of a woman in Nevada who died recently from a “superbug” resistant to every antibiotic available in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The woman, in her 70s, had traveled to India, where she developed a bone infection in her right femur and hip after breaking her femur and being subsequently hospitalized in India a number of times over a two-year period.
Perry said India has the highest rate of highly drug-resistant bacteria in the world — and that the case emphasizes the need for conscious control of antibiotic resistance.
Whereas a drug for controlling blood pressure that is a couple of decades old still provides the same benefits today, the same is not necessarily true for older antibiotics, he said.
“The indiscriminate use of antibiotics today could lead to resistance tomorrow,” he said. “We refer to what’s going on as the post-antibiotic era. We’re almost getting to a point, not in the United States, per se, but on a global scale, where we were before we had penicillin and sulfa.”
Paula Rodriquez, infection control practitioner with Abilene Regional Medical Center, said that patients demanding antibiotics from physicians, even if they aren’t warranted, can be a factor in increasing resistance.
“Don’t expect an antibiotic every single time you go to the doctor, whether you have a fever or not,” she said, noting that in the past five to seven years, doctors and clinics have become more reluctant to give out antibiotics.
Perry agreed.
“That’s an inappropriate use of an antibiotic,” he said. “(Patients) need to trust their physician’s diagnosis and discretion about what’s best.”
Hendrick and Abilene Regional both have in-house antimicrobial stewardship programs and practice isolation for patients who present with multidrug-resistant bacteria.
“Family has to gown up, physicians have to gown up, they get disposable trays, and that is common practice,” Perry said. “When those patients get discharged, the room gets a terminal clean. I like to call it a bleach bath.”
Ultraviolet light is used to further cleanse the area, he said.
Rodriquez said detecting multidrug-resistant organisms through cultures, admission history and assessment of signs and symptoms is a priority to protect patients, visitors and employees.
Nursing staff and physicians are well-trained in the hospital’s infection-control policies for MDROs, she said.
Rodriquez said that patterns of resistance seen in certain pathogens are shared with the local health department, especially useful if both facilities note similar resistance.
The No. 1 infection prevention tool is proper hand hygiene by those coming into contact with patients, a practice also important for patients themselves, she said.
Perry said the United States has good tools and procedures in place to stop the spread of strongly resistant bugs, something demonstrated in the recent Ebola outbreak, which ground to a halt once it hit U.S. shores.
Locally, we have been lucky, he said.
“Fortunately, we haven’t seen any extremely drug-resistant pathogens,” he said, though he noted multidrug-resistant pathogens are common at any hospital.
But the death of the patient in Nevada emphasizes why no matter one’s location, awareness and appropriate practices on the part of professionals and patients are needed.
Source: http://www.reporternews.com/story/news/2017/01/13/abilene-experts-talk-dangers-antibiotic-resistance/96558130/
