
Flying insects in hospitals carry 'superbug' germs - EndXA
https://www.upi.com/Health_News/2019/06/22/Flying-insects-in-hospitals-carry-superbug-germs/6451561211127/
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EndXA
Original study: [https://academic.oup.com/jme/advance-article-
abstract/doi/10...](https://academic.oup.com/jme/advance-article-
abstract/doi/10.1093/jme/tjz086/5514158)

Abstract:

> Insects are efficient vectors of bacteria and in the hospital environment
> may have a role in spreading nosocomial infections. This study sampled the
> flying insect populations of seven hospitals in the United Kingdom and
> characterized the associated culturome of Diptera, including the antibiotic
> resistance profile of bacterial isolates. Flying insects were collected in
> seven U.K. hospitals between the period March 2010 to August 2011. The
> bacteria carried by Diptera were isolated using culture-based techniques,
> identified and characterized by antimicrobial susceptibility testing. A
> total of 19,937 individual insects were collected with Diptera being the
> most abundant (73.6% of the total), followed by Hemiptera (13.9%),
> Hymenoptera (4.7%), Lepidoptera (2.9%), and Coleoptera (2%). From Diptera,
> 82 bacterial strains were identified. The majority of bacteria belonged to
> the Enterobacteriaceae (42%), followed by Bacillus spp. (24%) and
> Staphylococcus spp. (19%). Less abundant were bacteria of the genus
> Clostridium (6%), Streptococcus (5%), and Micrococcus (2%). A total of 68
> bacterial strains were characterized for their antibiotic resistance
> profile; 52.9% demonstrated a resistant phenotype to at least one class of
> antibiotic. Staphylococcus spp. represented the highest proportion of
> resistant strains (83.3%), followed by Bacillus spp. (60%) and
> Enterobacteriaceae (31.3%). Diptera were the predominant flying insects
> present in the U.K. hospital environments sampled and found to harbor a
> variety of opportunistic human pathogens with associated antimicrobial
> resistance profiles. Given the ability of flies to act as mechanical vectors
> of bacteria, they present a potential to contribute to persistence and
> spread of antimicrobial-resistant pathogenic bacteria in the hospital
> environment.

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zeristor
Flies are a health hazard, is that news?

Although I can't say I've noticed True Bugs (Hempitera) around, perhaps I'm
just not looking right.

What we need are spiders to catch the flies...

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stuartbman
The funniest sight I've ever seen in the hospital was a fly in the operating
theatre, being chased by half a dozen scrub nurses with disinfectant spray

~~~
giarc
We had fruit flies in an OR once. A colleague of mine did a ton of digging to
find the source. Turns out the fruit flies were breeding in the basement
laundry holding area where a staff member was pouring out dextrose and saline
into a floor drain. There was a service elevator near the drain that lead up
to the 9th floor where the ORs were. The flies were taking the elevator up
then flying to 15ft or so into the OR.

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derefr
So... bug nets? (Not sure what they’d put them around, though. Beds? Open
ingress points like windows, ala the way the CDC seals up areas with plastic
air locks?)

