How common is it for medical personel to catch staff infections?!


Question: How common is it for medical personel to catch staff infections.?
I know it's fairly common for people to catch staff infections while they're in the hospital, but was curious about health care workers, such as surgeons, nurses etc.Health Question & Answer


Answers:
not common.

personally I have seen only two people that I can remember, in the past 13 years, who are health care workers, and who had MRSA infections.

One was a doctor, one a nurse - in both cases, treated and resolved without antibiotics.

I'm the only infectious disease physician an our hospital, and Chair of infection control -- so it is unlikely that we had a large number of other infections in docs or nurses that I would not have known about.

Good handwashing absolutely prevents spread of this germ, as these numbers would suggest.

By the way, the frequency of these infections in hospitalized patients is also greatly exaggerated in the media -- for any 6 month time period, we get fewer than 5 cases of MRSA infections that were acquired in the hospital. You cannot prevent ALL infections, because it is the patient's OWN bacteria that cause the infections. They are not bacteria "given" to the patient by the nursing or MD staff.


We are now monitoring all patients admitted to our hospital, and we have found that 20% are carrying MRSA - before they even enter the hospital. It is obviously wrong to imply that patients with MRSA infections in the hospital were given those infections by RNs or MDs -- it's just not true. But as usual, this (false) impression is just what is shown on tv, because it makes for a good scary story.Health Question & Answer

I read a study recently that said up to 40% of hospital workers had staff infection, but their bodies fight it off better than sick people or people who have had surgery, etc. Many of them get over it without antibiotics - infecting patients in the meantime.

I also read recently that doctors and nurses wash their hands an average of 1/4 of the time they are supposed to - so out of every 4 people they see, they wash their hands once. (This does not include surgeons, however - they have very high standards when it comes to hand washing.) That's why they invented the antibacterial gel - it actually cleans better than hand washing. Sadly, they still only do it about 1/3 of the time they should.....Health Question & Answer

Medical personnel should never catch staph infections if they are following universal precautions. Everyone who works in patient care in the state of wi is required to take education credits regarding universal precautions. Universal precautions are assuming that every patient has a contagious disease. As long as the staff member is following precautions and washing their hands they should not catch staph. Now, there are definately people who are not careful enough and end up with infections. I personally saw a CNA who did not always wear gloves when she should have, she ended up getting MRSA in her hand. Since I have worked at children's hosp I have never heard of anyone getting a staph infection or catching an infectious disease....yet.Health Question & Answer

God I hope not.

I am a school nurse, and I wash my hands before and after patient contact--and let me tell you, I must be paranoid because I have a gallon of Hibiclens (chlorhexidine gluconate) with a hand pump on the top--and that's what I use.

Can't recall last time I had a flu / a bad cold.
Health Question & Answer

it is very very rare.Health Question & Answer



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