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C.
difficile
This article was
published in The West End
Times July 16, 2011.
Treatment or
prevention? That is
the question. I still don’t get it. Why are we still talking
about hospitals
and super hospitals and not ever talking about keeping people healthy?
The
Canadian pharmaceutical market is one of the fastest growing markets in
the
world. Based on the Canadian Pharmaceutical Market Outlook to 2013 the
Pharma
market grew by 13% during 2006-2007, generating revenues of $16.9
billion. The
use of antibiotics is of great concern. Outbreaks such as the recent
one of
C-Difficile in Ontario hospitals
are closely linked to
the use of antibiotics. The strain of C. Difficile that's now hitting
these hospitals first appeared about a decade ago. It caused a huge
outbreak in Quebec that
ended up killing 2,000 people in 2003. Another large outbreak in Ontario killed 62 people
five years later. And here we are again battling the bacteria.
The
Public Health Agency of Canada only started requiring hospitals to
report C.
difficile deaths in 2009 and it is believed that 250 people in Ontario alone will die
from it this year.
Many
more will die from other causes, but C. difficile will be a
contributing
factor. Healthy people can become infected, but the vast majority of
people who
come down with it are elderly, have weakened immune systems, or have
had
abdominal surgery. Using
antibiotics increases the
chance of developing C. difficile diarrhea. Treatment with
antibiotics
alters the normal levels of good bacteria found in the intestines and
colon.
When there are fewer of these good bacteria in our intestines and
colon, C.
difficile has the chance to thrive and produce toxins. When
combined, the
presence of C. difficile with a large number of patients
receiving
antibiotics in health care settings can lead to frequent outbreaks.
We
subsidize Pharmaceutical companies who make billions of dollars on the
sales of
antibiotics. Antibiotics contribute to the outbreaks of C-Difficile.
Sick
people have to be hospitalized. Take a crowd of people and put them in
an
enclosed space for several days and chances are some of those people
are going
to get sick. Sick people are weak and vulnerable and contract
C-Difficile in
hospitals. Besides being vigilant about hand washing when you are in a
hospital, there is little you can do to protect yourself. The bacteria
can live
for days on doorknobs, elevator buttons and other common surfaces.
Get
the picture? We have to be able to stay healthy and away from
hospitals. Health
and wellness programs cost very little by comparison to those for long
hospitalizations added to the cost of treating complications caused by
being in
hospitals. Why can’t some of the subsidy money be spent on
prevention keeping
people out of hospitals and away from the spreading bacteria (C-
Difficile)? If
we are not getting to the prevention part soon enough and people do
develop
illnesses, early diagnosis and interventions on an out-patient basis
can still
keep people out of hospitals. Following people at home when medical
support is
needed is also cost effective. Unless someone needs intensive care,
most treatments
can be monitored at home especially now that technology allows us to
connect
with health professionals easily and more frequently. That is if we
choose to
buy into this approach to health care delivery…..To me it is a
“No Brainer”.
Thoughts,
comments, suggestions are always
welcome.
Contact me at donna@ashcanada.com
Health Access, Home and Nursing care
514-695-3131
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