One of the great concerns for our society going forward is “superbugs.” These are nasty bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and, as you can imagine, they are very difficult — if not impossible — to treat. Our penchant for antibiotic use has led to an increased chance of bacteria growing resistant to some of our medicines that were formerly hailed as miracle drugs. As you can imagine, infections caused by “superbugs” have a high fatality rate.
If there is a silver lining to the “superbug” problem, it is this: these bacteria aren’t airborne, and there is an extremely low chance anyone can get these bacteria in public. Usually superbugs are transmitted in hospitals when medical equipment is not properly sterilized.
Sadly, it appears this was the contributing factor in the deaths of two patients at a UCLA hospital. The patients were infected with antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and they died as a result. The patients got this bacteria because of contaminated scopes that were used on them. There are no indications that UCLA failed to uphold the sterilization procedures required for these scopes, though they have bolstered their sterilization requirements in the wake of this unfortunate incident.
It’s hard to understate just how important sterilization is in the medical community. If hospitals or medical professionals fail in their duty to uphold safe and effective sterilization procedures, they put their patients at risk — and their irresponsible action could make them liable in any medical malpractice lawsuit that may be filed as a result.
Source: Newsweek, “Superbug Kills Two at UCLA; 179 Others May Have Been Exposed,” Douglas Main, Feb. 19, 2015
