Superbug brought back by Iraq war casualties (UK Article)

[Contrary1]

"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.

<snip>

At one hospital in Birmingham the bacteria is reported to have infected 93 people, 91 of them civilians. Thirty-five died, although the hospital was not able to establish whether the superbug was a contributory factor..."

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

[peacebird]

1. Iraq war - the "gift" that keeps on giving.....

:sarcasm:

[twilight_sailing]

2. Too bad we didn't rebuild Iraq.

Raw sewage running down the streets, a severe shortage of clean drinking water etc.

All these years later things are still in shambles there despite the endlessly repeated cry of the Republicans that the media just was not reporting the "good news' from Iraq. There just wasn't much good news.

Now we have this news, some freakish bacteria. If the boys are bringing it back with them, how many Iraqis has it affected?

Who knows, if we had helped the people we conquered, as they expected we would, maybe things would have turned out differently there.