(PVL) MRSA
Posted by Patti on December 19th, 2006 / Print This Post
Across the pond they have identified a new strain of MRSA. It’s only a matter of time when we will see this in the US.
A healthy hospital worker died after contracting a deadly new strain of MRSA that had never before been reported as a cause of death in hospitals.Four other workers at the same hospital also contracted Panton-Valentine Leukocidin-positive (PVL) MRSA, with two of their friends, said the Health Protection Agency. An investigation subsequently found that the strain had killed a patient at the hospital earlier this year.
The strain, which is particularly virulent, attacks healthy young people and can cause symptoms ranging from minor infections in the skin and soft tissue to a form of pneumonia that can kill in 24 hours.
The outbreak, which has only just been reported, was identified when a previously healthy female healthcare worker, named only as “Case One”, developed a severe MRSA infection and pneumonia and died after emergency surgery in September, the agency said.
The bacterium that she had contracted, PVL-positive MRSA, had never been found to cause a death inside a hospital. It was contracted by at least three other workers in two wards in a West Midlands hospital, and two of their friends.
It was also found to have caused the death of a patient at the hospital in March.
A statement from the agency said: “Eight cases of PVL- positive community-associated MRSA have been identified among individuals in a hospital and their close household contacts in the West Midlands. Four of these individuals developed an infection, two of whom subsequently died.”
Doesn’t sound good- these new germs keep mutating and turning into things we cannot treat.
December 19th, 2006 at 3:42 pm
The PVL-positive MRSA is endemic in North America; in Europe PVL positivity is more associated with MSSAs. PVL staph aureus has been around since at 1932 when Panton and Valentine first identified it.
What is new is that this is the first report of a health care worker dying having contracted it from a patient (albeit after a period of time; it is already known to be highly transmissable in the hospital environment).
December 20th, 2006 at 11:05 am
Exactly the point…whats new is someone has died…so this virus has mutated.
December 23rd, 2006 at 6:50 pm
I contracted MRSA from a man who has a severe case on his back due to lengthy hospital stay in Broward County, Florida. He shook my hand and you already know the rest. On my website I am trying to teach people to recognize the boils and to rush to their doctor or ER to get the test for MRSA. There are suddenly a lot of cases of MRSA here in South Florida. I do not know why the cases are so numerous here. I am being successful so far killing the boils with iodine, hydrogen peroxide and turmeric. When they appear now, they are very very small, altho painful bumps, and they die pretty fast, but this is SO FAR…If I get boils I cannot kill, then I will be one of those running to the ER.
December 23rd, 2006 at 6:59 pm
My first boils were about 1 and 1/2 inch in diameter, there were four of them, and very painful. If you click on my name, you can read about my encounters with MRSA and as much other information as I have been able to garner so far. It took 6 days for my first boils to completely heal. Then today a very small one tried to get going on my forehead, but I killed it. My methods may not work for other people, so on my website, I give all the methods others have used. And many cautions, such as do not squeeze the boils, get a doctor to lance them if needed.
December 27th, 2006 at 7:59 pm
Carolyn I’m concerned that you’re sharing medical info here that hasn’t been endorsed by an MD. You do have a disclaimer at your site..but not here. Anyone who gets a boil should see their doctor first before attempting the things advocated at Carolyn’s site. A round of antibiotics will cure all forms of MRSA.