You turn on a television and catch the end of an interview with a young patient

Question

You turn on a television and catch the end of an interview with a young patient who developed a life-threatening MRSA infection after a routine surgery to remove his appendix. What is the term for this type of surgical wound infection, and how common are these infections? An elderly man is admitted to a hospital after he experiences a heart attack. Four days after his admission he is diagnosed with pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas. Three other patients in the same hospital at the same time also develop pneumonia caused by Pseudomonas. List at least four key questions an infectious disease epidemiologist would want answered as the source of these infections is investigated.

Explanation / Answer

60). The common bacteria that infect surgical wounds are "Staphylococcus aureus" (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) and Streptococcus species, enterococci and pseudomonas aeruginosa. If this occurs in clinical settings, it is known as "health care-associated MRSA (HA-MRSA)."

MRSA (Methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus), VRSA (vancomycin resistant staphylococcus aureus) & VRE (vancomycin resistant enterococci) bacteria pose an increased patient threat and recall three newer drugs for treating them because they are resistant to the available antibiotics. Diseases caused by these resistant strains cannot be controlled with the present available drugs (or combination therapy may be helpful sometimes), so newer drugs are needed.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse Y
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.