

Norway leads the world in antibiotic resistance, has lowest rate of MSRA - anigbrowl
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091231/ap_on_he_me/when_drugs_stop_working_norway_s_answer

======
shrike
On a personal note MRSA is a tough little bug. I got it in the hospital after
I broke my ankle and had to get a bunch of screws and a plate installed. They
ended up removing all of the hardware and keeping me in the hospital for ~ _90
days_ on IV Vancomycin. If you develop a resistance to Vancomycin (VRSA -
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancomycin-
resistant_Staphyloco...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vancomycin-
resistant_Staphylococcus_aureus)) you are pretty much done for.

It is actually pretty frighting; there is one one drug that can fight a
serious MRSA infection (Vancomycin). Once we become resistant to that we have
to start taking drugs like Linezolid which can kill you faster than the
infection. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linezolid>

If you are headed into the hospital for surgery make sure you talk to all of
the doctors about their infection control procedures. Make sure every
nurse/orderly/housekeeper and visitor washes their hands before they come into
you room.

Sorry about the off topicish comment.

~~~
eru
Wasn't there an interesting article about the use of checklists is hospitals?
I remember that they helped the staff to follow all the procedures and shrank
infection rates by something like two thirds or so.

Edit: <http://www.nytimes.com/2007/12/30/opinion/30gawande.html> has something
about it. But it wasn't the article I sought for.

~~~
gjm11
Perhaps one of these:

[http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_...](http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/12/10/071210fa_fact_gawande)

<http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/22/health/22brod.html>

<http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/25/health/25medicine.html>

EDITED to add: HN discussion of the first of those at
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=87167> .

EDITED again to add:
<http://www.healthreform.gov/reports/success/michigan.html> has the 2/3 figure
in it and has been mentioned in at least one comment on HN.

~~~
eru
Thanks!

------
blahedo
The problem is that we are looking at a tragedy-of-the-commons problem, a
classic prisoner's dilemma: if y'all cut back on your Z-packs, then _I_ can
use it safely without really breeding any superbugs. And the US, with its
deep-seated commitment to liberty, is notoriously bad at resolving that sort
of thing cleanly.

------
mnemonicsloth
1\. In the headline: MRSA, Methicillin-resistant _Staphylococcus aureus_.
MSRA, Minnesota Street Rod Association.

2\. The article claims that _people_ develop resistance to antibiotics, which
is almost wrong enough to set off the Quack Filter.

------
lr
I heard about this over 15 years ago on the radio program Living on Earth
(<http://www.loe.org/>) while I was in college. It is very true, even if the
story is slightly inaccurate. We really need to stop prescribing and taking
antibiotics for things that are clearly viral infections.

At the time I heard the story, I went to the student health center (at ISU)
and asked one of the doctors about prescribing antibiotics (amoxicillin was
the drug of choice at the time) when students clearly have a viral infection,
and that antibiotics are not going to do anything. He completely agreed, but
he said, "If we don't prescribe something, we'll have angry parents calling to
complain."

~~~
eru
> "If we don't prescribe something, we'll have angry parents calling to
> complain."

That's what's so good about homeopathy --- a generally accepted placebo.

------
gojomo
The original headline was weak, so I see why you tried to improve it, but the
submitted headline now gives the impression Norway has the most ("leads the
world in") antibiotic resistance, when in fact the point of the story is the
exact opposite. (Perhaps "Norway _best fights_..."?)

~~~
anigbrowl
Quite so :-/ Unfortunately it's too late to edit, but thanks for adding that
clarification.

~~~
carbocation
As a medical person, your headline conveyed the right meaning to me.

------
ars
"Norwegians are sanguine about their coughs and colds, toughing it out through
low-grade infections."

I think this is one of the key elements. Are people in other countries willing
to do this?

------
dnsworks
Tracy Kidder (Soul Of A New Machine) wrote a fantastic book about some of the
epidemiologists who have been working for the past few decades on the problem,
but from the POV of a sociologist. The book is "Mountains Beyond Mountains",
and mainly focuses on Paul Farmer from Partners In Health.

