NANFA-- RE: Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Laura Burbage (leuhrich-in-yahoo.com)
Tue, 18 May 2004 16:51:00 -0700 (PDT)

Drug resistant bacteria are really starting to cause
problems. There is a drug resistant Staph that is
apparantly popping up quite a bit. A grad student
here had this Staph infect her blood and was in the
ICU for about a month. Things looked very poor until
the doctors found a hole in her heart that was
complicating her recovery. When she was stable
enough, they closed the hole and the infection was
able to be much better treated. We were all very
frightened for her for quite some time.

The Staph seemed to come out of nowhere. Nobody had
any idea what she might have done that might have
given her contact with it. Her parents were searching
her datebook to look for recent dental appointments.

It seems that this bacterium, which was once really
only found in hospitals, is now more common among the
general public, especially those who participate in
contact sports. Wound hygeine is stressed as a
preventative measure.

More info:
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5233a4.htm

I don't know that I could call collecting a contact
sport (although in my case I seem to contact the
ground more than I'd like). This germ also inhabits
damp areas, so it is possible to get it anywhere. I
don't know if it is likely to get it from a stream
that sees little human impact, though.

Feel better soon,
Laura
/-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
/"Unless stated otherwise, comments made on this list do not necessarily
/ reflect the beliefs or goals of the North American Native Fishes
/ Association"
/ This is the discussion list of the North American Native Fishes Association
/ nanfa-in-aquaria.net. To subscribe, unsubscribe, or get help, send the word
/ subscribe, unsubscribe, or help in the body (not subject) of an email to
/ nanfa-request-in-aquaria.net. For a digest version, send the command to
/ nanfa-digest-request-in-aquaria.net instead.
/ For more information about NANFA, visit our web page, http://www.nanfa.org