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94 Comments
- ZephyrNinety, on 02/23/2008, -1/+46Don't rub your vag all over the gym equipment.
- Gerz1219, on 02/23/2008, -12/+46I blame God for intelligently re-designing Staphylococcus aureus so that it is resistant to antibiotics. I think he did it to punish us for having gay people.
- amtheliberator, on 02/23/2008, -5/+27I blame hand sanitizer.
- smacksaw, on 02/23/2008, -1/+19My sister has something similar, except it's a lung infection. She was at a hospital in Denver (same one where the lawyer with TB was) for a long time battling it. The doctors say she'll never get over it. They came up with a regimen of antibiotics for her and it's fairly well under control.
I'm not a fan of antibiotics, but I'm not dumb about them, either...and that's pro or con. The author here should probably stop using "off the shelf", prescription antibiotics. She has a pretty specific infection. She needs to see better doctors.
My personal suspicion is that the Keflex did this to her. When I was 18, I failed spectacularly in a Darwin Award attempt where my friend was boosting me over a fence and dropped me on a wrought-iron spike that I got impaled on. Long story short it got infected. The trauma surgeon gave me the choice - try the antibiotic they THOUGHT might work from the initial culture or wait until they could research it more, but risk the infection spreading.
I chose to wait. Turns out it was the wrong antibiotic they were suggesting. Had I taken it, it would have compromised my immunity so that a different round of antibiotics would not have been effective. It would have weakened me so much that my body could not fight the infection.
Ever since then, I've always been suspicious and careful of antibiotics. The real lesson is to use them cautiously and don't just "try" one. Find out what the infection is. She sounds a lot like what happened to me. If you weaken your immunity to infection at the wrong time, what sort of chance do you have of being susceptible to future infections? There's a lot of conflicting dogma out there about antibiotics, but I say to just remember they are extremely powerful and don't use them unless it's a last resort. I'm alive today because I waited and used the RIGHT one. - teamparadox, on 02/23/2008, -0/+16i blame them as well, and also people who take antibiotics for everything including the common cold, and people who dont take every single pill they get as directed when they really have something that calls for antibiotics
- StinkyHobo, on 02/23/2008, -0/+15 She should probably stop going to that gym. It seems like that's where it originates. She can bleach her sheets till hell freezes over, but if she's picking it up outside of the home, all of those precautions won't do her much good.
- rentmitchum, on 02/23/2008, -4/+19 I wonder how much of the world's problems can be blamed on gay people. Probably all of them. Makes the most sense.
- ZephyrNinety, on 02/23/2008, -4/+14They don't give you super powers.
- vertinox, on 02/23/2008, -2/+12That is a myth. Handsanitizer is not the culprit of the super bug but the over use of antibiotics that is human digestable. Your stomach and blood is not made of purell and any other type of antibotic soap. Therefore a bacteria that gets immune to purrell or soap won't be any different that non immune bacteria that gets in your system because it is still not immune to antibiotics. However, a bacterium that is immune to most antibiotics is highly dangerous because a human can't drink purrell or eat a bar of soap when the antibotics don't work.
I hope that makes sense. It is far better use purrell and soap and get a bacteria immune to that than to not and then just use antibiotics all the time.
Lastly, bacteria is a fast evolver and humans cannot become immune like a virus. Simply not using hand sanitizers and getting sick and not taking antibiotics isn't a solution either because unlike viruses you can get sick over and over again to the same type bacteria. Also, bacteria infections cause a great deal of stress to the body and too many times infected can get an autoimmune problem which results in heart failure etc.
However, that said many people have been taking antibiotics for things when they were really sick or were just minor infections that the body could handle and now that has created antibotic resistant strains which scare me much more than hand sanitizer immune bacteria. - carpespasm, on 02/23/2008, -0/+10No, this is what you get when you have a highly mobile society/ good health care/ anti-bacterial everything, and people who don't finish out their antibiotic perscrips. You get someone who happens to get sick with a disease that left untreated would normally kill them in a very slow and nasty way. They're given some antibiotics for it, but stop taking them once they start to feel better, which is just the point where the body is back in control of the bacteria, but hasn't yet killed it all off. The bacteria left at this point become more immune to the methicilin and spread into the wider population, who've been using anti-bacterial soap, hand sanitizer, dish washing soap, etc... their whole lives and thus haven't built up antibodies to staph like they normally would have done since the body would have it around and learn to fight it off with you never noticing. Lather, rinse, repeat.
- tonnert, on 02/23/2008, -2/+11This is what you get when you're giving massive amounts of antibiotics to the livestock as a preemptive measure. Also, the fact that people are getting a dose for a cold doesn't help either. The bottom line is; we might be running out of options here. It might actually be a good idea to stop feeding our livestock with antibiotics.
- henro112358, on 02/23/2008, -0/+9I'm pretty sure it's not possible for bacteria to develop immunity to or antibiotic resistance from hand sanitizer. Alcohol kills by dehydration doesn't it?
- LightPhoenix, on 02/23/2008, -0/+9Someone needs to tell this lady that's it's definitely something she's doing, and not the magic of MRSA. I do agree she needs to go to better doctors though.
- theOster, on 02/23/2008, -0/+9i actually had the exact same thing happen to me. it started with a spider bite (that i thought was a zit) on my thigh. it got to the point where it hurts so bad that i figured i'd just pop it. when i did it exploded and there was a huge hole in my leg with two smaller holes going even deeper. i thought "ok, the worst is over this will heal up". and it did over the next few weeks. then a few months later i got another one in my ass :). this time i went to the doctor (the first time since my entry to college back in 1995). i'm rarely sick beyond the standard runny nose and headache and thats only a few times a year (usually during winter). so when i went in the doctor kinda flipped out and was saying he hoped it wasnt this "MRSA" thing that was killing everyone. i kinda laughed and siad "yeah right". turns out it WAS MRSA and he prescribed the exact same thing - bactrim, hibiclens showers, and the nose ointment. i did a little research and it turns out that it's a pretty common bug (or at least not rare). and usually the symptoms are that you just take a bit longer to shake off colds and infections. oh well, my point being that from my eyes (after having gone through it) i don't think she's an idiot.
- KLowD9x, on 02/23/2008, -0/+9Easy way to avoid MRSA.
Stay on DIGG. - campingstick, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7Is this a news story or an ad? It's sprinkled with links to Health.com at the end of scary paragraphs. And of course at the end is a link to "Try a FREE TRIAL issue of Health - CLICK HERE"
So let's follow the chain. Health.com is published by Southern Progress Corp, which is a wholly owned company of TIme Inc., which is wholly owned by Time Warner. CNN is also owned by Time Warner. So somebody pulled some strings. This is one of the drawbacks of media consolidation. Pseudo sensationalistic news gets published (dolled up as if to be in the interest of the public), when it's really just a fancy ad to get people to by subscriptions to a sister publication, in this case, Health.com. Er, thanks CNN.
Does that mean it has no value? I'm unsure, but it's not journalism either. It's media spam. - henro112358, on 02/23/2008, -0/+7Whats wrong with being happy?
- Number23, on 02/23/2008, -2/+9It's not hand sanitizer, it antibiotics or the over prescription thereof. Isopropyl alcohol is like dynamite to microorganism, they could never evolve immunity to it.
- Ultie, on 02/23/2008, -0/+6MRSA is horrible. The first huge high school outbreak happened at a school near mine, and we heard all about it. Our football team refused to go into their locker room, and the fans at the game decided to wear surgical masks and gloves as a joke. Tasteful, huh?
I've been lucky enough to avoid it, but a good friend of mine has it. It's pretty damn gross. At first we all thought she just had a huge pimple on her cheek, but when they drained it and we saw the scar, we knew it was bad. A few days later, another one appeared on her leg, then one of her arm. At this point, we were all freaking out, and the school was about to shut down because she wasn't the only one...
The girl is a total germaphobe, and carries hand sanitizer with her everywhere. She has one of the weakest immune systems I've ever seen simply because she's always cleaning crap... - CoolWind, on 02/23/2008, -0/+6That is correct. Alcohol based hand sanitizer works immediately, is very cheap and is unbelievably effective against MRSA.
- nickfartzone, on 02/23/2008, -0/+5Antibiotics don't weaken the immune system. Improperly used, they can potentially create strains of bad bacteria that are stronger. Think about it, the reason for these bugs is not the "clean" people, it's the idiots that take 3 days of a 10 day antibiotic dose pack because they "feel" better and have irrational fears of taking the full prescribed dosage of pills. Their system is left with the weakest bacteria killed and the strongest sitting around ready to make babies. Otherwise, antibiotics can reduce your instestinal flora but we pick that ***** up all over the place in our environment, and stuff like yogurt can speed it up.
- flipperBaby, on 02/23/2008, -0/+5My girlfriend and I have both had MRSA multiple times and have both been hospitalized at length. We seem to be free of it now for the last 8 months or so. It's not really a big deal if you find a doctor who will diagnose and treat it properly. Letting the infection spread and get worse is what makes it so dangerous.
- CoolWind, on 02/23/2008, -0/+5Alcohol based hand sanitizer is the answer to MRSA. Bacteria cannot become resistant to it. An MRSA infection often seems like a spider bite or a pimple or an abscess. If you get one of these, cleanse the whole area with alcohol based hand sanitizer. This stuff works miracles. You can use it all over your body. I used to have pimples on the backs of my upper arms and on my chest, but now they are gone because I use hand sanitizer on those areas if I see them coming back. It also works wonders on the head, in case you have sores there. A few years ago I started to get insect bites on my legs that wouldn't heal for 3 or 4 months. It wasn't until recently that I realized they were MRSA infections. The solution is alcohol based hand sanitizer. It's very cheap and works immediately. To keep wounds from becoming reinfected, I have found that strong iodine tincture works very well. It may also be necessary to cover the wound with a band aid until it scabs over. Be aware that you spread the MRSA from one area of the body to another with your hands, so it's good to keep them clean by washing or using hand sanitizer.
- Ahnteis, on 02/23/2008, -0/+5I actually read an extremely good article about this within the last month. He's not just making this up. Hospitals and super-confined livestock farms are apparently the two biggest environs for super-bug breeding.
- UnWeave, on 02/23/2008, -6/+11She sounds like an idiot to me. I am I only one to get that impression from reading this?
- Thagor, on 02/23/2008, -0/+4hm its probably because that on the one hand we don't train our immunsystem any longer by disinfecting everything we have contact with and wash our hands every time we did touch something "dirty" so our immunsystem isn't used to fight bacterias anymore and then when we catch something like that we probably lose the fight
- jster89, on 02/23/2008, -0/+4Sometimes an antibiotic with a broad-spectrum has to be administered before the specific bacteria can be identified. This is to help prevent overwhelming bacteraemia and sepsis which would be life-threatening. In your case a deep wound infection could quickly have overwhelmed and killed you from that injury.
- theOster, on 02/23/2008, -2/+6dont forget the jews
- inactive, on 02/23/2008, -0/+4Couple favorites:
"Argh! Five doc-tor's visits for this one infection, and the thing was getting worse. I was losing it. Health.com: Don't worry so much about scary diseases"
"I was really frustrated. I couldn't believe it had come back. Before long I was back at the ER for another draining and culture. More MRSA. More antibiotics, this time something called Bactrim. Health.com: How not to catch MRSA" - maxlightz, on 02/23/2008, -0/+3it's a downward spiral ... constantly getting loaded up on antibiotics destroys the human body's ability to naturally fight off infections ... that's why when i drop food on the floor i pick it up and eat it.
- mark1905, on 02/23/2008, -0/+3I caught this crap too.. we think from wakeboarding in the river. It was horrible.. imagine the gnarliest boil you have ever seen and magnify it by ten. Ugh.
- wacki, on 02/23/2008, -0/+3Um... I'd like to see your source that an antibiotic can weaken your immune system.
Myth: Antibiotics weaken the body's immune system.
Fact: Antibiotics do not weaken the immune system. This myth stems from the observation that a few people go on to develop new infections after having taken an antibiotic.
http://www.drspock.com/article/0,1510,5481,00.html
The only exception that I know of is with people that essentially try to replace their entire immune system with long term antibiotic use. - chris, on 02/23/2008, -1/+3I haven't been sick in over 5 years. Seriously... Not a sore throat, cold, flu, stomach ache, nothing. I contribute that fact to training my immune system to fight things off itself. Before my 5 years with no sickness I would never take medicine when I got sick, ever. So my immune system got stronger. This is gross, i know, but I rarely wash my hands... and yes, I do bite my fingernails. And as someone said above, hand sanitizer is evil, don't trust it.
PS. Last night my friends didn't believe that I never got sick so we are doing a test. My sick friend was there, I had him eat off his utensils, then I borrowed them to use and used her straw as well. We'll see how it goes :) - xptweakerntn, on 02/23/2008, -2/+4It's a bird, it's a plane! It's an-----Insectoid?
/But really...because everyone is always getting vaccines and taking antibiotics and making sure their food it fully cooked, our immune systems are going to shut down, and overall a virus is going to kill of 90% of the population....and only those that can't afford health care are going to be the only ones left. No universal health care will save the planet! - xdoppelgangerx, on 02/23/2008, -1/+3Lives in Boston, weekend house in Connecticut. She works out then gardens. Sounds like her husband needs to trade in his atrophy wife.
- flipperBaby, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2Vancomycin did nothing for my MRSA. Only after about 12 different antibiotics, Rifampin seemed to help the most. The worse part about it is that it kills everything else in your body too.
- teh_techie, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2should have just made out with "her"...
- theOster, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2Worldwide, an estimated 2 billion people carry some form of S. aureus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mrsa - jodokast, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2Your immune system won't adapt to anything if you're dead...
- salinemist, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2Just wait until the Democrats punish the "evil" drug companies.
- theOster, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2she's now OCD
- radu79, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2You don't really need hand sanitizer, you can use rubbing alcohol (leaves no residue, it's cheap, and stronger).
- millerbrad, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2Not sure why he's being dug down, because this is totally correct... People not finishing prescribed courses of an antibiotic contributes, in part, to MRSA being more prevalent.
And MRSA is not exactly rare. In our hospital, 85% of these skin boils grow MRSA when cultured -- and that's in people who haven't been in the hospital. 85%!!
Community-acquired MRSA can be a bit "meaner" that garden variety staph, but rarely is it a "killer bug". - JohnboiWaltune, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2wear flip flops or crocs, and don't ever let your feet touch the floor
- CoolWind, on 02/23/2008, -0/+2MRSA is not a virus. It's a bacteria.
- robotabot, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1i'm not denying that mrsa is a serious thing, but i had it late last year, and the doctor who cut open the spot on my leg said that the media is oversensationalizing it lately. he said that at his clinic alone (of which there are several in my town) they see at least one or two cases every week, and that's been normal for a long time. it's not a new phenomenon, by any means.
- flipperBaby, on 02/24/2008, -0/+1actually when i showed my doctor my wound for the first time he put me on a IV of vancomycin. i never took it orally.
- millerbrad, on 02/23/2008, -0/+1Before I get called out for contradicting myself... In the 2nd paragraph, I'm referring to people who come into the ER.
- beauley, on 02/16/2009, -0/+1Very well documented on our MRSA problems. One problem that some of the top world medical authorities tell us: If the human body is well infused with those nutrients that will keep it in optimum immune health and not infused with foods that have been irradiated which deplete it from many critical nutrients along with ample sleep, MRSA will be engulfed by the body's white blood cell antibodies, etc. Antibiotics are indiscriminate and kill all bacteria.
Ever since Louis Pasteur, whenever we got an earache as a child, strep throat, or other infection, we were usually given an antibiotic to make us better. As an adult, we learn that given all the benefits of this cure-all, there are some negative aspects of using antibiotics. Even now, as I have always been taught that Omega oils lubricate our inner mechanics, probiotics protect them from the deadly invaders.
http://www.healthmad.com/Medicine/Antibiotics-are- ...
Antibiotics: are They Cures or Silent Killers? - millerbrad, on 02/23/2008, -0/+1Vanco, dapto and linezolid are great and all... but Bactrim and Doxycycline are nearly as good for pennies a day.
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