Swine Flu and Hospital Acquired Infections

Yes. And I say that with genuine sorrow.

I was brought up to admire and respect the public health service established in Britain after WW2. Although it was a socialist ideal, it was genuinely liked and protected by all sectors of the population. It was ironic that the rather secular English in particular should stick with a genuine Chistian model of "concern for all."

Few would have thought of ever suing and even today, I would not do so for a genuine mistake.

But things have gone from bad to worse. Defence against complaints has become downright lying. Performance related pay has recruited inadequates to positions of great power as administrators.

Aping the private sector has become the norm. Looking like businesspeople and getting the rewards whilst the patients and taxpayers take the risks.

The government has taken control by issuing targets for everything. The administrators shamelessly fiddle the figures to meet them.

So, I'm after reform, not adoption of the American model. Class actions, relatively new to Britain, in particular, offer enormous scope for bringing together large numbers of complainants on a common cause.

The issue is no longer a single medical mistake on an individual. MRSA and C.Diff change everything. The government ordered response to zoonotic disease is wrong.

Their subservience to the financial interests of BIG PIG and its veterinary hacks have caused them to follow the wrong model throughout the English Speaking World. The Dutch, Danes and others target veterinarians, pig and pork workers as bringing pig related diseases into the hospitals - and they have proved themselves right by the results.

MRSA st398 is the classic. Britain has even managed to hide it up for five long years, whilst the human death toll rises - Canada the same.

So, yes. If government kills, government pays.

That's us in the end, of course, except maybe in cross border actions. But whichever taxpayer pays it is a small price for cleaning up the act.

There is nothing more terrifying as being in hospital riddled with superbugs. I know from personal experience.

--
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/

Your ignorance on this matter is appalling, and your postings on this subject are nothing more than self-serving advertisements. You are using the swine flu outbreak to draw people to your own practice relating to MRSA. The two have nothing to do with one another.

You begin with a few facts, but you exhibit a very poor understanding of viruses. For example you state that it is possible for "this virus to mutate much like the viruses have in antibiotic resistant strains."

Antibiotics have no effect on viruses. Antibiotics are only of use in bacterial infections. Your statement makes no sense.

MRSA is a bacterial infection, Swine Flu is a viral infection against which antibiotics are useless. There is no correlation between these two whatsoever, and in some cases of swine flu an immune overreaction in healthy adults have caused fatalities, where in MRSA being immunocompromised opens the door to infection

mi, thank you for your comment. Who else out there feels just a little bit the same way?

You might find these comments helpful in respect of the emerging swine fever situation.

They are based on ten solid years of BIG PIG watching and knowing the modus operandi of most of the activists on both sides from pig vets to animal rights.

BIG PIG’s apologists worldwide are desperately trying to rename it “Mexican Flu” following the age old and loveable English tradition of employing their language to blame the foreigner. The Dutch historically have caught the most vigorous phase, but are undeniably innocent on this occasion. The BBC have, so far, commendably resisted renaming and insist on “Swine Flu”

BIG PIG are also making a series of statements making it clear the risk is person to person. That is inadequate. Imagine a sick pig farmer infecting a pig herd? They are also claiming, with careful words that Mexican pigs are healthy. That is almost certainly untrue. It may be true that they do not have Swine Flu but circovirus and other disease will be present.

Some of BIG PIG’s most senior high profile veterinarians are serial offenders in misleading the public, especially in the USA, where they have been very active talking down circovirus and MRSA in pigs.

ANIMAL RIGHTS have an equally disreputable record. Many of their unreliable claims do seep into the media too. We do not all want to be vegetarians and prefer not to subscribe to alarmist propaganda. They are claiming that intensive pig herds in Mexico do have Swine Fever and that in some areas vaccination is banned.

The inevitable XENOPHOBES are claiming that the disease came from areas they disapprove of in people they don’t like in tourists or, even better, illegal immigrants. That is the easiest one to knock down. Who needs people to move pig disease about the world, when genetics and breeding companies move live pigs from country to country with dodgy heath certificates? Britain’s Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons caught 21 vets faking health certificates for money and allowed them to continue to practice. That’s common worldwide.

So, what is the truth?

We should find out in the next few days. American officials are reported to be in Mexico and in the pig farms. Vets true, but they can hardly hide up sick pigs in large numbers in such a serious situation, so we should, get reliable reports on the health status of Mexican pigs.

The big question is just what do we do if the pigs are sick with Swine Fever.

Neither hospitals or pig farms worldwide can face another onslaught of zoonotic disease and the inevitable mutations.

--
Regards
Pat Gardiner
Release the results of testing British pigs for MRSA and C.Diff now!
www.go-self-sufficient.com and http://animal-epidemics.blogspot.com/

Last message, first sentence and penultimate sentence - "Swine Fever" should have read "Swine Flu."

I have had Swine Fever on the brain since watching my pigs culled by the government in 2000 during a Swine Fever epidemic. Infuriatingly, the pigs were actually healthy.

Pat

Pat, Thank you for your input. Please keep up posted.

To Wayne Parsons:
The original posting which connected MRSA and the swine flu made no sense. The only reason to connect the two is to have this irrational post come up as a link on articles with the extensive swine flu coverage -- talk about a "cheap shot"! Nowhere did I mention lawsuits as you claimed. Instead, as I implied in my original post, and as stated by "G", "There is no correlation between these two whatsoever"; I'm pretty certain that most people are intelligent enough to recognize this as as a sham -- nothing more than a self-serving advertisement to get one's name in the news. Frank Bailey should be ashamed of himself for these low-brow tactics -- and then you compound the effect to imply a "conspiracy"! Come on now, who has the conflict of interest here? It's people like you who give attorneys a bad name.

I agree to what ml said about antibiotics and virus but not support other comments. I am constantly reading about these Antibiotic resistant bacterial infections and find this blog useful. People do contribute and I think the solicitors must be well informed to help their clients and patients.

Doctors and nurses are not well informed because healthcare providers and scientists do not know very much about these bugs either. Only thing we know is bacteria (MRSA, CA-MRSA and ten others)are not responding to antibiotic treatment and we have very few antiviral drugs nor vaccinations to prevent various strains (billions) of viruses.

Antibiotics work only on BACTERIA and NOT VIRUSES. Bacteria are similar to our body cells. They have (nucleus with genes, mitochondria and plasmid. The virus has only a capsule and a part of genes inside. These viruses need another cell (our body cells or bacteria) to help them live and multiply. Like HIV virus gets into our body cell and stay there (unwanted guest) others come in when they need to multiply (Swine flu virus)

Swine flu virus enters cells lining the nostrils, multiply rapidly and shed young ones in the secretions. They also stimulate nostrils to produce sneezing to help them disperse their baby virus by droplet spray. When the virus infects the lining of nose (mucus membrane) and lungs, they produce pneumonitis.

This is the major problem because organism like CA-MRSA are colonised in the nostrils will find it easy to enter the mucus membrane in the nose and lungs and produce pneumonia that kills in 24-48 hours. In the past, we could give antibiotics to prevent this secondary bacterial infections, but now we do not have many to use.

In 1918 Influenza pandemic, millions were killed NOT by Influenza virus but due to secondary bacterial infection caused by “Staphylococcus”. Then they did not have antibiotics but now we have many antibiotics that do not kill bacteria.

Nearly 20% of world population died in 1918, if this infection continues, we need to embrace ourselves because the virus effect health adults and children, anti-viral drugs are very expensive and this does not prevent secondary bacterial infections.

Please check out my website for informations and and read: Deadly Companions: How microbes shaped our history Dorothy H. Crawford

Dr. Srivatsa, Excellent information. Thank you for posting your comment.

The real problem is the lack of effort to get people to stop non-essential traveling. Yes, they are asking people not to travel unless necessary,. but we all no that not everyone listens. We don't have a real cure for this flu, and we have now seen casualties in the US. We should be more careful, spreading this flu is relatively easy with all of the frequent fliers and drivers out there.

Joseph, thank you for your comment. Are you saying people don't take personal responsibility, or are you saying our government needs to control us more?

Once the government takes action and set rules, not more control, the public tends to follow those rules. When there are merely suggestions on what to do, good practices are thrown to the side.

Joseph, you make a good point. Do you think the government (CDC) should REQUIRE healthcare facilities to follow the guidelines from SHEA?

It is difficult to get people to stop traveling. However, some cases stand out in the mind.

We know that veterinarians are way above average carriers of MRSA. They themselves provided us with the information and all credit to them for doing so. They swabbed the vets at a couple of conferences in the US a couple of years ago including vets from outside North America. The results startled them.

I have always believed there is a connection between circovirus and MRSA plus possibly C.Diff and others and published the Gardiner Hypothesis, explaining the links. Few argue with me and none very seriously. The links are obvious both in published work and on the maps

Circovirus vaccines, although much touted, are no panecea, so what does the pharaceutical industry do?

They launched a new circovirus vaccine recently at specially arranged function with vets from all over the place in Lisbon. There must have been more MRSA st398 in that room, than in the average specialist lab.

We even have picture of the local attractions and the assembled company in the publicity!

BIG PIG say they are worried about pigs catching swine flu from people. Their pig farms are behind razor wire and the public kept away, but their own people and porcine vets, through unwise traveling and association actually pose the biggest risks to pigs as well as people.

That's why the Dutch have tested veterinarians, pig and pork workers for the past five years at the hospital doors.

In Britain, we are still refused the results of testing British pigs for MRSA last year.

Why?

Regards Pat Gardiner

The primary acts should have been to limit travel and track & test those that are traveling. It can be extreme, but when dealing with an airborne disease, it should be mandatory.

Dr. Wenzel is the former President of the International Society for Infectious Diseases and Chairman of the Department of Internal Medicine at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, VA has made some interesting comments. I think you will fing this useful.
LINK