You might never suspect this significant source of hospital bacterial transmission

I just told you about two people who died far too young because of an infection.

Now it turns out that the place we think of as being among the safest is really among the most dangerous.

Researchers at New Hampshire’s Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center suspected that bacterial transmission via anesthesia IV apparatus might be linked with increased patient mortality. So they tracked transmission in 164 operations that included anesthesia.

Results were abysmal!

They found bacterial transmission to the “anesthesia environment” in nearly 90 percent of cases! And more than 65 percent of “provider hands” were contaminated with one or more major pathogens, including the antibiotic resistant “superbug” MRSA.

They concluded that anesthesiologists’ contaminated hands serve as a “significant source” of operating room contamination.

These are results I’d expect from a study of WW II battlefield surgery. But from a modern hospital where people go to be saved? That’s horrifying!

If you or a loved one has surgery scheduled, make sure you do everything you can to boost your immune system before your operation–because you probably won’t get a chance to remind the anesthesiologist to wash his hands.

Source:
“Hand Contamination of Anesthesia Providers Is an Important Risk Factor for Intraoperative Bacterial Transmission” Anesthesia & Analgesia, Vol. 112, No. 1, January 2011, anesthesia-analgesia.org