The Uk's wonderful socialized healthcare

arbilad · Head Chef

The Uk's wonderful socialized healthcare

rayb · Hot Air Balloon

But the curries are so fresh in India.

arbilad · Head Chef

That brings up another topic, and I hope that it doesn't derail this thread (if it does, I'll create another thread). I heard on the radio this morning that they're experimenting with hot sauce to numb the nerve endings during operations. I am not making this up.

palmon · Senior Member

It is not that hospitals in Britain and America do not have high standards of hygine, but that these superbugs have become resistant. thanks in a large part to our overuse of antibodics.

Poncho29 · Senior Bucketkeeper

Too true Palmon. Our country is horrible about over-prescribing antibiotics. People have the mindset that as soon as they get a little bug they have to have antibiotics when most of the time it is most likely viral. The first line antibiotics are not working as well as they used to because the bugs mutate and become resistant.

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

So are they catching botulism IN the hospitals?

(I didn't see what the other superbug was...) At least they know botulism is a bacteria.

arbilad · Head Chef

I'm sure that overcrowding is part of it. After all, I don't care how antibiotic resistant a bug is - if you spray rubbing alcohol all over it, for instance, it is going to become denatured and die. If the hospital had enough time and capacity, they could get rid of the superbugs.

Cat Herder · Understander of unimportant things

Too bad one can't ingest rubbing alchohol for those nasty superbugs that infect on the inside... weirdface

salesortonscom · Wise and Revered Master

Well you can but it will kill you thus killing thus rendering the need to kill the bugs mute.

Hoss Cartwright · Senior Member

Or moot.

salesortonscom · Wise and Revered Master

Mute, you won't have to hear about the problem anymore!

arbilad · Head Chef

True, Cat, but my understanding is that people generally either get better from the bug or die. They don't stay in the hospital as a continuing source of the bug. Once their room is empty, thoroughly disinfect it. Keep infected groups of people apart from each other. Use the utmost in caution when interacting with them, so as not to spread the bug. These things are all possible when the hospital is not overcrowded and the workers are not exhausted and slip up in their containment procedures.
My point is that superbugs don't need to stick around hospitals. But the brits (and the US also, for that matter), don't have the resources to stomp it out.

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

Lots of superbugs mutating in Wal-Mart shelves even as we speak.

TitusTodd · Senior Member

Good reason to avoid going to the hospital if possible.

Most of the antibiotic overuse is because of doctors prescribing them, of course.

Cocobeem · Keeper of the Holy Grail

Because people want their meds, of course.

Poncho29 · Senior Bucketkeeper

TitusTodd wrote:

Good reason to avoid going to the hospital if possible.

Most of the antibiotic overuse is because of doctors prescribing them, of course.

Yeah and it's like I said earlier and like what Coco just said, it's because people feel like they have to have an antibiotic for everything so alot of doctors just go ahead and write out a script, when the majority of the time what they have is probably viral.

I get annoyed at our pediatrician sometimes because she will not just call in a prescription. She always wants us to make an appointment. She will not write a script unless she knows what she's prescribing for and that makes for good medicine. I see WAY too many doctors who call in prescriptions all the time and they haven't even seen the patient and have no idea what they are actually treating.

salesortonscom · Wise and Revered Master

My doctor is the best! He'll write me a perscription for Plecebo right over the phone!

Randy · Senior Member

In defense of antibiotics to treat viral infections.

There are people who are susceptible to secondary infections. They are so susceptible, that you can bet money that they are going to get a bacterial infection in addition to their viral infection. When such a patient gets a doctor who adamantly opposes antibiotics for viral infections on the grounds that antibiotics have no effect on viral infections, they may have the frequently-repeated scenario of untreated long and painful illness. This does get really, really old after a while.

There really are people who never ever show the slightest improvement until they start antibiotics. To ask these people to repeatedly play the waiting game, until the inevitable secondary bacterial infection blossoms sufficiently to be obvious, may not always be the best course of action.

Glad I'm not a doctor. You are too.

Jen · Senior Bucketkeeper

I like to get a narcotic called in now and then.

arbilad · Head Chef

Randy wrote:

In defense of antibiotics to treat viral infections.

There are people who are susceptible to secondary infections. They are so susceptible, that you can bet money that they are going to get a bacterial infection in addition to their viral infection. When such a patient gets a doctor who adamantly opposes antibiotics for viral infections on the grounds that antibiotics have no effect on viral infections, they may have the frequently-repeated scenario of untreated long and painful illness. This does get really, really old after a while.

There really are people who never ever show the slightest improvement until they start antibiotics. To ask these people to repeatedly play the waiting game, until the inevitable secondary bacterial infection blossoms sufficiently to be obvious, may not always be the best course of action.

Glad I'm not a doctor. You are too.

This is why "one size fits all" solutions don't work medically. You need a doctor who will take the time to understand your specific situation. You don't need a doctor trying to get you in and out of the examining room in 5 minutes like an operator in a call center (actually, most call centers give you a couple of minutes at best).

Poncho29 · Senior Bucketkeeper

Randy wrote:

There are people who are susceptible to secondary infections. They are so susceptible, that you can bet money that they are going to get a bacterial infection in addition to their viral infection. When such a patient gets a doctor who adamantly opposes antibiotics for viral infections on the grounds that antibiotics have no effect on viral infections, they may have the frequently-repeated scenario of untreated long and painful illness. This does get really, really old after a while.

You're absolutely right. There are people who have compromised immune systems or who are susceptible to secondary infections and should have antibiotics when they get any kind of infection.
Those aren't the people I'm referring to.