Latest news with #MRSA
CBS News
18 hours ago
- Health
- CBS News
Woman files lawsuit, claims she almost lost a leg due to unsanitary pool at Ann Arbor hotel
A 23-year-old woman says she almost lost her leg due to an infection in a hotel pool in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Alexis Williams is suing the Residence Inn and its owner for allegedly not keeping their pool in clean condition. Williams claims a scrape on her leg exposed her to bacteria when she was swimming in the pool on June 24 with her two younger cousins, who also got sick. Williams says she's already undergone three surgeries for her leg. She says doctors diagnosed her with MRSA, an infection from an antibiotic-resistant bacteria, that's led to pain, mobility issues, and lack of sleep. She says she still uses a walker, more than a month after getting in the water. Hotel officials told CBS News Detroit that they are just now hearing about the lawsuit and do not have a comment at this time. "All I could think about was not only myself, but my family was in there before me, longer than me. And I ended up coming out with something worse," Williams said. Her attorneys claim tests showed there were high PH levels and dangerous levels of bacteria before and after Williams swam in the hotel pool. "The Residence Inn indicated on several occasions that there was no chlorine in the pool," said attorney Michael Freifeld. "It should have been shut down several times during the course of the month of June, no question about it. But there's no question this pool was unsanitary for a good portion of the month of June." Attorneys say they're seeking at least $25,000 to cover her current and future medical costs as well as physical and emotional damages. "It makes me really feel depressed. It makes me feel like I can't depend on myself anymore. I have to depend on others. All I can think about is trying to heal, but it feels like I'm not physically, mentally, or emotionally," she says.
BBC News
a day ago
- Health
- BBC News
Why the government wants your pet dog and cat poo
Over half of UK adults own pets and live with them in a shared environment, meaning that bacteria, including resistant bacteria, can spread easily between animals and people, says the goverment's Veterinary Medicines Directorate. Several studies have shown pets and owners can potentially swap pathogens, including the hospital 'superbug' MRSA. Scotland's Rural College will run the study over four years. Prof John Berezowski, who is one of the researchers, said they would work with pet owners and their vets to explore how best to collect all the poo samples. "This initiative is critical for a better understanding of the transmission and maintenance of antimicrobial resistance in our pets," he said. The World Health Organization classes antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest public health threats facing humanity. Drug-resistant infections kill more than 1.2 million people a year globally, with the figure projected to rise to 10 million by 2050 if no action is taken, it says. To prevent transmission, experts recommend owners practise good hygiene, including washing their hands after petting their dog or cat and after handling their waste. If a pet is unwell, owners might consider isolating them in one room to prevent the spread of bacteria throughout the house, and clean other rooms thoroughly. Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) arises when organisms that cause infection evolve ways to survive treatments. Without effective antibiotics, even minor surgery and routine operations, such as caesarean sections when giving birth, could become high-risk procedures if serious infections can't be treated.
UPI
23-07-2025
- Health
- UPI
Study: Urgent care often prescribes inappropriate medications
Urgent care clinics are handing out fistfuls of antibiotics, steroids and opioids for conditions these drugs won't help, a new study says. Photo by Adobe Stock/HealthDay News Urgent care clinics are handing out fistfuls of antibiotics, steroids and opioids for conditions these drugs won't help, a new study says. "Previous studies had shown that patients continue to receive antibiotics for diagnoses where they may not be indicated, such as for a viral respiratory infection, especially in urgent care settings," said co-lead researcher Dr. Shirley Cohen-Mekelburg, an assistant professor of internal medicine at the University of Michigan Medical School. "Our findings reveal that this trend of inappropriate prescribing includes other classes of drugs -- including glucocorticoids -- and a variety of conditions," Cohen-Mekelburg added in a news release. For the study, published Tuesday in the Annals of Internal Medicine, researchers analyzed health care data for more than 22.4 million urgent care visits that occurred between 2018 and 2022. More than 12% of those visits resulted in a prescription for antibiotics, 9% in a steroid prescription and 1% in a scrip for opioids. The research team then looked to see how many prescriptions were handed out for health conditions the drugs aren't meant to treat. Among the inappropriate prescriptions, researchers found: Antibiotics prescribed for more than 30% of patients with ear infections, nearly 46% of patients with urinary symptoms and 15% of patients with bronchitis. Steroids prescribed for nearly 24% of patients with a sinus infection, 41% of patients with bronchitis and 12% of patients with upper respiratory infections. Opioids prescribed for nearly 5% of patients with muscle pain, more than 6% of patients with abdominal pain or GI symptoms and 4% of patients with sprains or strains. These results jibe with recent studies showing that urgent care is the most common type of health care visit to result in inappropriate prescriptions for antibiotics to treat viral respiratory infections, researchers said. The drugs are likely being handed out because the urgent care staff doesn't know better, patients are demanding specific meds and no one is providing back-up support for decisions about prescribing, researchers said. The consequences may be far-reaching: Antibiotic-resistant bacteria like MRSA have become a growing threat to health, due to the overuse of antibiotics. Likewise, America's opioid crisis has been fueled by too many painkiller prescriptions doled out for dicey reasons. Researchers concluded that drug stewardship programs are needed to make sure urgent care clinics are handing out the right drugs for the right conditions. "Reducing inappropriate prescribing of antibiotics, glucocorticoids and opioids will require a multifaceted approach," Cohen-Mekelburg said. "Providers at urgent centers would benefit from greater support and feedback in making these decisions." More information The Mayo Clinic has more on urgent care. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Euronews
23-07-2025
- Health
- Euronews
Bacteria strain that evades antibiotics is spreading in Europe
A new strain of bacteria that can cause serious infections in children but evades standard treatments is spreading in Europe. MRSA (meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is a type of bacteria that has evolved to the point where first-choice antibiotics no longer work against it, making it harder to treat. It can cause serious health problems if it gets inside the body, causing more than 100,000 deaths worldwide in 2019. A new strain of MRSA was identified in Germany and the Netherlands nearly a decade ago – and it has since spread to at least nine other European countries, according to new research by Denmark's Statens Serum Institut (SSI). The scientists began to worry that the strain might be circulating in Denmark after 32 children and family members developed ulcers that were caused by a specific type of staph bacteria in summer 2023. A year later, they identified another outbreak from the same bacteria elsewhere in the country. They suspected Denmark was not the only place affected by the new strain, which they call a 'clone' of another type of MRSA because they have some genetic similarities. When they analysed samples across Europe, they found the bacteria in 11 countries: Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom. 'This clone, which was first found in Germany and the Netherlands in 2014, is a new subtype' of the bacteria, Andreas Petersen, a MRSA researcher at SSI who led the study, said in a statement. The researchers published their findings in the journal Eurosurveillance. The strain is genetically similar to another form of MRSA that appears to cause impetigo, a bacterial skin infection that causes red sores to form and burst around the nose and mouth. Most common among children aged two to five, impetigo is highly contagious and can spread easily within families. Outbreaks usually occur in late summer and early autumn. Impetigo usually isn't dangerous, but rare complications include kidney damage and cellulitis, an infection that can be life-threatening if it spreads to the lymph nodes and bloodstream. Fusidic acid, an antibiotic cream, is commonly used to treat impetigo infections, but it does not work well against the MRSA strain. That is why doctors across Europe need to know if it may be spreading in their communities, the researchers said. 'We believe that it is a combination of these virulence factors [or genes] as well as the resistance to fusidin that has helped make this new type so successful,' Petersen said. MRSA is just one of many health threats emerging due to antibiotic resistance. Infections from so-called superbugs could kill more than 39 million people worldwide over the next 25 years, according to a landmark study published last year. Antibiotic resistance also takes a toll on the health system. Together, the 11 countries where the new MRSA strain has been identified spent nearly $13.3 billion (€11.4 billion) treating hospital patients with drug-resistant infections in 2022, according to recent estimates from the Center for Global Development. The Danish researchers believe the new strain may be spreading undetected in other parts of Europe as well. It has already been found outside of hospitals and nursing homes, which have strict protocols in place to contain MRSA, Petersen said. 'The spread of MRSA in the community is more difficult to monitor and combat,' he added.
Time Business News
22-07-2025
- Health
- Time Business News
Transforming Hospital-Acquired Infection Detection
The hospital acquired disease testing refers to clinical procedures, which are used to detect infection that patients are contracted while staying in the hospital, such as MRSA, C. difficile, sepsis, and ventilator-associated pneumonia. The market testing for the market is increasing due to increasing incidence of infections associated with healthcare, increased antimicrobial resistance, and rapid, to prevent outbreaks and improve patient results. Additionally, progress in point-of-care tests, molecular diagnosis and transition control protocols is accelerating adoption in healthcare facilities worldwide. Key Growth Drivers and Opportunities Increasing Incidence of Infections Associated with Healthcare: Increasing incidence of healthcare infections-as M MRSA, C. difficile, and ventilator-associated pneumonia is a major driver, a major driver, which is the test market. These infections not only increase the cost of patient sickness and health care, but also demand more accurate clinical solutions to enable timely intervention and control. As hospitals strive to meet strict transition control rules and improve the patient's results, the need to be reliable continues to increase testing technologies, promoting market expansion. Challenges Hospital acquired disease (HAD) tests faces several borders, including high costs associated with advanced molecular diagnosis, limited availability of rapid point-care solutions in resource-settings, and capacity for false positive or negative due to sample contamination or sample contamination or low pathogen load. Additionally, in traditional laboratory-based methods, test results may obstruct clinical decisions on time. The lack of standardized testing protocols in institutions and complicate the increasing risk of antimicrobial resistance and complicate more accurate diagnosis and treatment, faced challenges for effective infection controls. Innovation and Expansion Hospital-Acquired Infection Monitoring is Being Transformed by Decentralized Diagnostics In November 2024, The Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria Careggi hospital and Don Gnocchi, a rehabilitation facility in Florence, Italy, have teamed together to establish an infection prevention and control approach. The Don Gnocchi Foundation spearheaded their efforts by installing a Cepheid GeneXpert technology for screening carbapenemase-producing enterobacterales (CPE) on-site. Microbiologists from the Azienda Ospedaliero-Universitaria di Careggi then remotely and in real time confirm the results improved infection prevention and control, improved patient care, and total cost savings for the Don Gnocchi Foundation are all made possible by this methodology. Southern Ohio Medical Center Uses MEDITECH Expanse to Reduce C. difficile Rates by 30% In August 2022, Hospital-acquired C. difficile infections have decreased by 30% and test cancellations have decreased by 32% at Southern Ohio Medical Center (Portsmouth, OH). These outstanding accomplishments were the result of MEDITECH Professional Services (MPS) and SOMC's Quality Improvement Team working together to enhance patient outcomes, increase evidence-based treatment, and expedite the time-consuming, ineffective testing procedures. As part of its ongoing efforts to maintain high quality metrics on a publicly published measure, SOMC demonstrated a 30% relative decrease in hospital-acquired C. difficile. This helped the company avoid fines based on value-based payment models and boost customer confidence. By improving antibiotic prescribing procedures, this program has also aided their antimicrobial stewardship initiatives. Inventive Sparks, Expanding Markets Major development strategies for hospital acquired disease testing companies include rapid point-off-care and multiplex test platforms, strategic partnerships with hospitals and public health agencies, investing in AI-powered clinical equipment, regular approval for new assays and targeting emerging markets with scalable, low-cost solutions. About Author: Prophecy is a specialized market research, analytics, marketing and business strategy, and solutions company that offer strategic and tactical support to clients for making well-informed business decisions and to identify and achieve high value opportunities in the target business area. Also, we help our client to address business challenges and provide best possible solutions to overcome them and transform their business. TIME BUSINESS NEWS
