Warning - Superbugs and Your Risk to Them

With the news that "superbugs" are on the rise in U.S. hospitals, the worrying thought must be - Am I susceptible to catching one while visiting? - No! would be the answer, unless you are in for a long stay, ie. as a patient, as most superbugs seem to be associated with taking antibiotics - or more so, the OVERUSE of them.A new study attributed to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), has contributed these new findings to the lax use of antibiotics. That is to say - the overuse of them in certain circumstances is a real public threat to many (believed to be the opinion of Dr. Arjun Srinivasan, associate director for healthcare associated infection prevention programs at the CDC).It was released to the public that the use of antibiotics in U.S. hospitals is up two-fold, and at the level of overuse. So what is the gen behind this?Today, doctors are simply over-prescribing antibiotics by up to 50% to patients that may not even need them (as a precautionary measure), resulting in many patient side-effects, and the creation of drug-resistant bacteria (common superbugs). Because of this, new strains of bacteria increase on a daily basis together with their victims (the patients).It is believed that most over-prescriptions occur is the writings for "Vancomycin" (used to treat infections of the intestines that cause colitis), and prescriptions for urinary tract infections (one-third ordered without proper evaluation), lung infections, and infections caused by drug-resistant Staphylococcus bacteria - MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) are the most common.


Other contributors to the findings were as followers:(a) Not just the over-prescription of antibiotics, but also to their extended use (antibiotics used on patients for too long).(b) The tendency for patients to cry-out for antibiotics when they are ill (unjustly and ill prescribed by doctors to help get their patients well [to seek beneficial results and conform to their patients requests]).Scary Facts:

More than 2-million people a year in the U.S.A alone get sick from drug-resistant bacteria, resulting in over 23,000 unjustified deaths.

Over $20 billion a year is directly associated with superbug health costs.

Over $35 billion a year is the result of lost-productivity.
Conclusion:Every year over $55 billion is wasted as a direct result to the underfunding of the U.S. health system, where if just a fraction of it were to be spent on the better understanding of modern-day drugs (and their use) - less pressure would be put on doctors to get results as better results would be forth-coming as part of a natural process.