I’ve noted some articles and blogs relating to the rise of hospital-acquired infections in the UK, but now here is one close to home.  This information relates to the rise or MRSA in Canada.

The incidence of hospital-acquired MRSA has increased tenfold in less than a decade. Since 2003, C. difficile has killed more than 600 people in Quebec alone, most of them elderly or very sick patients. In all, the statistics show 250,000 Canadians are getting sick from preventable infections every year. Such infections kill more North Americans annually than breast cancer, traffic accidents and AIDS combined. Many fatal infections preventable: official Despite the wake-up call that SARS gave to the Toronto area in 2003, Niagara public health officer Dr. Douglas Sidar says infection control still does not receive enough attention in Canada’s hospitals. "People die from these infections – which technically, almost certainly, in many instances can be prevented," said Sidar. He thinks hospitals must wake up to the need for proper infection control – including nurses who know how to recognize the signs of an infection and enough cleaning staff to keep commonly touched surfaces free of bacterial contamination.

Sources:  MRSA Blog,  www.Gwinnetdailyonline.com

A digital colonoscopy.  For sure this is a less invasive way to inspect the colon for polyps.  This is a good way to get more people in for screenings.  We all know that screenings are the best way to catch this relatively slow growing cancer. 

Read here about how this digital tool may be finally catching on with doctors who initially were concerned about how effective this was in actually giving good information about what is in the colon.

"We are hoping to develop virtual colonoscopy as a noninvasive technique to screen the colon so that we can bring more people in for screening," Yee said. "Currently, less than 30 percent of individuals in this country come in for colon cancer screening."

Virtual colonoscopy should be a viable option for colorectal cancer screening, Yee said, adding, "It has an added advantage over colonoscopy in that it can look outside the colon."

One expert thinks this study offers more evidence of the value of virtual colonoscopy.

Source:  www.healthcentral.com