“... There were three cases in that outbreak (in) patients
who had been in the unit for months. All of the appropriate measures were
taken, and the containment was achieved”
Chief Medical Officer
(CMO) Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse at a Press Conference held on Wednesday October
28th 2015
Minister of Health Dr Fenton Ferguson, just can't seem to
catch a break.
Meanwhile as the drought stretches on and sanitation levels
dip due to a lack of water for proper Sanitation and hygiene as predicted by
Dr. Michael Taylor in my blog article
entitled “Dr.
Taylor links Climate Change to increase in Diseases in Jamaica - Dengue, Pink
Eye and Zika Virus coming and Asthma rising”, disease has started to take
hold since July 2015.
Now comes new information that seems to suggest that MRSA
(Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) has been running rampant in the
Bustamante Hospital for Children since July 2015 as reported in the article “Bacteria
at ‘Busta’”, published Thursday, October 29, 2015 By Alphea Saunders, The Jamaica Observer.
So says CMO (Chief Medical Officer) Dr Marion
Bullock-Ducasse at a Press Conference held on Wednesday October 28th 2015 in
which she made the disclosure. Apparently it's been spreading within the
Intensive Care Unit among patients, as MRSA isn't restricted to prematurely
born babies only; it can also infect adults too as I’ll explain below.
MRSA has apparently been spreading a month after the
Klebsiella and Serratia bacterial infection began spreading at UHWI (University
Hospital of the West Indies) and Cornwall Regional Hospital in June 2015 as
mentioned in my blog
article entitled “18
Jamaican babies die from Klebsiella and Serratia - How lack of Water caused
UHWI and Cornwall Hospital Babies Deaths”.
This new bit of information from Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse
basically confirms a tweet by Nationwide New journalist Abka Fitz-Henley
Twitter account @AbkaFitzHenley on the 19th of October 2015 about
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) spreading within the
Bustamante Hospital for Children:
"MRSA infections at Bustamante Hospital.
Affecting some babies with cancer, HIV & those on intravenous fluids
for extended periods" - source
— Abka Fitz-Henley
(@AbkaFitzHenley) October
19, 2015
He also confirmed that MRSA was indeed spreading in the
Bustamante Hospital for Children as reported in the article “MRSA
Confirmed at Bustamante”, published Oct 29, 2015 by Abka Fitz-Henley, Nationwide News.
Folks, it looks like we have a full blown outbreak!!! Based
on this Press Conference on Wednesday October 28th 2015, it'll get
worse as the drought continues, causing potable water to be in short supply and
unavailable for sanitation.
Dr Marion
Bullock-Ducasse putting out fires - Ministry of Health hiding bacterial
infection Public Hospital deaths
Worse, based on the Press Conference by Dr Marion
Bullock-Ducasse, it sounds as if they're busy putting out fires, so to speak,
at other Public Hospitals:
1. Bacterial
infection at St Ann's Bay Hospital, which was a single isolated case that was
under control
2. Bacterial
Infections at Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Jamaica’s only maternity hospital
She gave no details on these bacterial infections as to what
the bacteria was that was involved as whether or not the spread had been
contained. However, she also revealed more details about the deaths of the
nineteen (19) babies died from Klebsiella and Serratia bacterial infection
began spreading at UHWI and Cornwall Regional Hospital since June 2015:
1. 8
died at the UHWI at Cornwall Regional
2. 11
died at Cornwall Regional Hospital
This isn't looking good for the Minister of Health Dr Fenton
Ferguson, who has now upped the count to forty five (45) babies infected with
Klebsiella and Serratia of which nineteen (19) have died as reported in my blog article
entitled “19
Babies now dead from Klebsiella and Serratia bacterial infections - How More
Babies will Die as Drought continues”.
CMO Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse is of course taking action,
drawing upon the bet medical minds at her disposal, quote: “The ministry had
immediate dialogue with doctors at the hospital, we requested additional
information which was reviewed last evening, and a team from the Ministry of
Health head office, including our national epidemiologist, is currently at the
hospital conducting an assessment and to ensure that the appropriate
recommendations are in place”.
But based on the mention the infections at St Ann's Bay
Hospital, Victoria Jubilee Hospital and now MRSA at Bustamante Hospital for
Children, it might be safe for me to conclude that Klebsiella, Serratia and now
MRSA are now taking hold and spreading.
Thankfully, no deaths from MRSA have been reported as yet.
Or probably the Ministry of Health is holding on to those numbers to prevent a
panic as CMO Dr Marion Bullock-Ducasse revealed very little during the Press
Conference.
So what exactly is MRSA?
MRSA in Bustamante
Hospital for Children - Doctors overprescribing antibiotics as Drought fuels
Bacterial Infections
MRSA (Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a
common infection in hospitals that’s caused by a Staphylococcus aureus
bacterium.
What makes MRSA, usually mistaken for bedsores, more
difficult to treat is that due to over-prescription of anti-biotics by doctors,
the Staphylococcus aureus bacteria have become drug-resistant to everything
from penicillin to the most modern antibiotics.
This means that MRSA can cause the appearance of really ugly
subcutaneous abscess that resemble bedsores as shown below.
MRSA spreads like most bacterium; contact with items or
surfaces laced with the bodily fluids of the infected or the carrier, as
persons can have a bacterium living on their skin but show no ill effect i.e.
Typhoid Mary type-situation.
This means that without the use of disinfectants,
anti-septic soap e.g. Carbolic soap and iso-propyl alcohol with clean rags
rinsed in warm water, MRSA and other Bacteria are basically multiplying and
spreading like wildfire as the conditions are right for them.
Most important of all is the need for Water, as that's
needed to clean surfaces using disinfectants an anti-septic in order to keep
the Bacterial populations low. Similarly, the sheets need to be disinfected and
anti-bacterial soap, not liquid soaps need to be used in the washing of hands
in public Hospital restrooms.
Albeit a common, non-lethal bacterial infection which the human
body can develop an immunity, immunity takes a long time to develop, as there
are hundreds of strains of Staphylococcus aureus.
The typical human will not get the chance to develop these immunities
unless they lived in a hospital for all of their lives and the effects on the
body are equally hard to treat. Also, MRSA and other bacterial infection have
the potential to kill if the infected has a weak immune system i.e. babies,
children suffering from an illness or elderly persons with other health
problems.
With no known drug or active agent that can be used to treat
infections caused by MRSA due to their drug-resistant status, I expect with the
ongoing lack of water that more reports of infections will be forthcoming not
only from the Bustamante Hospital for Children but also other Public Hospital
across the country as the drought continues and sanitation is lacking.
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