Superbug brought back by Iraq war casualties

[RamboLiberal]

http://news.independent.co.uk/uk/health_medical/article1962456.ece

Injured soldiers returning from Iraq have brought back a superbug that has been linked with outbreaks in NHS hospitals where they have been treated, a health minister has confirmed. The links between casualties brought back from Iraq and outbreaks in the NHS have caused alarm within the health service and led to renewed demands for more dedicated wards for Britain's armed forces to enable wounded soldiers to be isolated more effectively.

The Health Protection Agency has urged NHS hospitals to step up their infection control measures as a result of the outbreaks of a strain of the superbug Acinetobacter baumannii which is resistant to many types of antibiotics.

"A multi-resistant strain of A. baumannii known as the 'T strain' has been isolated from casualties returning to the UK from Iraq," the Health minister Andy Burnham said in a Commons written answer.

He said the exact source of the infection had not been identified but US casualties returning to America had also been found to be carrying the superbug.

[xchrom]

1. tip of the iceberg.

there are so many casualities -- that you know this is not the end of the story.

this will spread as time goes on.

[MrPrax]

2. Different superbug...same result

9 dead in Quebec C. difficile outbreak

October 27, 2006

MONTREAL (CP) - Nine people have died in a Quebec hospital in recent months from what doctors worry is a new and more powerful strain of C. difficile, sparking fears of another deadly outbreak.

Since late July, health officials have identified a total of 22 Clostridium difficile cases at Honore-Mercier Hospital in St-Hyacinthe, about 60 kilometres southeast of Montreal. "We have, in effect, decided to decontaminate 50 per cent of the hospital," its director general, Denis Blanchard, said in an interview Friday.

...

A hypervirulent strain of C. difficile was blamed for roughly 2,000 deaths in Quebec between 2003 and 2004. Similar outbreaks have occurred in Britain and the United States.

Canoe

Another story from the National Post

In places like Britain and Canada, this stuff 'trickles' out quietly. I can imagine that in the US, given the private and litigious nature of the medical system, it is probably just as bad if not worst and routinely covered up to avoid lawsuits.