Los Angeles hospital warns 179 patients possibly exposed to ‘superbug’ »
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – A large Los Angeles teaching hospital has told scores of patients they may have been exposed to a drug-resistant bacterial superbug during endoscopy procedures that infected seven patients and contributed to two deaths
It seems high time for a new fear.. Ebola never quite hit home. Measles didn’t much more to shake the nation to the core.. and the Polar Vortex was replaced with a ‘Siberian Express’ to remind us of how awful weather is and how it’s our enemy. Plus don’t think for a second that news directors aren’t getting a kick out of a slight percentage of Americans believing that Vladimir Putin is somehow creating polar surges into the United States to destroy our Western Civilization..
But all mocking aside, perhaps the new fear of the SUPERBUG is warranted?
More from the REUTERS report:
The possible exposures occurred at the UCLA Ronald Reagan Medical Center between Oct. 3 and Jan. 28 during procedures in which a specialized endoscope is inserted down the throat to diagnose and treat pancreatic and bile duct diseases.
One thing to note: Many of those who may be infected are in the predicament after a ‘routine’ procedure. And now there is nothing routine about the possibility that they have a life-altering bacteria that may kill up to half of the people who get it..
And while we are not calling this one Captain Tripps just yet, public statements being made now will either be looked on as prudent caution or blatant disguises sometime soon in the future..
“It’s important to emphasize: This particular outbreak of CRE is not a threat to the health of the public in Los Angeles County,” said Benjamin Schwartz, deputy chief of the acute communicable disease control program at the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.