The pipes of hospitals carrying away the infections of the sick are bound to be quite disturbing places. But scientists dared to snoop around in them anyway and found that they can fuel superbugs.
In a new study, published by The American Society for Microbiology, scientists determined that antibiotic-resistant bacteria are bred in the plumbing of hospitals. The study, titled Genomic Analysis of Hospital Plumbing Reveals Diverse Reservoir of Bacterial Plasmids Conferring Carbapenem Resistance found that even when hospitals themselves are impeccably clean of infectious bacteria and viruses, the pipes that carry away those micro-organisms are not.
Even when the sinks, faucets, bedrails and countertops of patients’ rooms are largely free of germs that resist modern medicines, the genetic building blocks for antibiotic resistance intermingle freely in the pipes connected to those rooms, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal mBio. That DNA can give superbugs the power to defeat modern medicines and threaten the lives of patients. –LA Times
The DNA scientists were able to swab from the inside of the pipes showed that these little organisms have the power to become vast medicine-resistant superbugs that could wipe out a lot of people. The study began back in 2012 after a severely ill woman carried a bacterial infection into a New York health care center.
In 2012, a team of sleuths at the National Institutes of Health’s Clinical Care Center broke new ground in the effort to rout a deadly antibiotic-resistant infection that sickened at least 17 patients — and killed six — during the summer of 2011. Using whole-genome sequencing for the first time in such an investigation, the team identified the culprit: a super-potent strain of Klebsiella pneumoniae bacteria carried into the center by a seriously ill woman from New York.
The microbe, they discovered, was probably traveling between rooms after lodging in sinks and drains. Some were ripped out and others were sanitized in an extensive eradication effort.  –LA Times
The study itself came to the following conclusion:
Carbapenemase-producing organisms (CPOs) are a global concern because of the morbidity and mortality associated with these resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Horizontal plasmid transfer spreads the resistance mechanism to new bacteria, and understanding the plasmid ecology of the hospital environment can assist in the design of control strategies to prevent nosocomial infections. A 5-year genomic and epidemiological survey was undertaken to study the CPOs in the patient-accessible environment, as well as in the plumbing system removed from the patient. This comprehensive survey revealed a vast, unappreciated reservoir of CPOs in wastewater, which was in contrast to the low positivity rate in both the patient population and the patient-accessible environment. While there were few patient-environmental isolate associations, there were plasmid backbones common to both populations. These results are relevant to all hospitals for which CPO colonization may not yet be defined through extensive surveillance.-American Society for Microbiology
During the study, all of the samples drawn from the piping system leading from the ICU tested positive for bacterial plasmids that confer resistance to carbapenems. And so did all seven samples drawn from wastewater samples taken from two external manholes associated with the NIH Clinical Center.
This means that hospital pipes can be the breeding grounds for the next superbug, and once infected, could eliminate up to 50% of those who become infected with the superbug.
Having worked as an engineer in a large medical facility, the article is very true. Worse than that is the minor mention of the wastewater. It all goes to the county or regional sanitation facility where it encounters ‘normal’ population viruses and DNA. Miles of pipe between the hospitals and the processing sites. We are literally seeding our own destruction.
SOUNDS LIKE A JOB FOR DRANO, MAX CLOG REMOVER.
Vitamin C kills ALL pathogens when used in large doses. Vitamin C is a natural disinfectant and totally non toxic to humans.
Chemicals are a bad idea.
Hospital wastewater should be collected on site and treated, prior to being flushed into the sewer system. Salt water could be used to flush these pipes too as could h2o2. 🙂
Hopefully a person w/bad infection can get a dr to inject vit C into bloodstream,(bypassing the digestive tract) to avoid stomach upset. Cancer patients would also benefit greatly. Fitness centers are loaded w/bacteria as machines are rarely cleaned, I stopped going to these places long ago and have my own equipment. Flu season germs are everywhere too. People get RV’s because motels are also a risk. 7th Generation brand antiviral/bacterial spray for surfaces, and the wipes for grocery cart.
lol right on.
I knew that hospitals were full of germs. This takes it to a new level. It sounds like the hospital should have its own wastewater plant. Seperate from everything else.
So, bring out the flesh-eating bacteria.
My grandmother (born in 1914) said people only went to the hospital to die. I have found nothing to discredit her opinion.
My orthopedic surgeon falsified (deleted portions thereof) my records, which denied me access to the kind of care I would need to properly care for a chronic injury.
My current personal physician will not treat that part of my body that was injured because it happened on the job. Yet, I have no status as having been injured on the job because the government and the medical profession are so corrupt and evil.
What happened to the requirement of “do no harm”? And what about the oath these doctors took to “treat the patient in front of them”? Or how about the requirement to treat the whole patient, not just parts of the patient?
I don’t see any of that anymore.
What I see are Canadian nurses working in American hospitals who have not been trained to care for patients, especially when they are Americans, because they are only here for the jobs and the money that they have taken from other Americans.
My last visit to the hospital scared the crap out of me. And I am the son of a doctor.
I had sepsis 18 months ago, from diverticulitis and leaking abcess, and nearly died.
I stay the heck away from hospitals. Bad, bad place to go. I actually went to the hospital the Friday prior to having to call 911 on Sunday morning and I was told by the urgent care clinic to either go to the local ER or go home or come back in the morning due to a back up and it was two hours from the clinic closing. Bad advice! It wouldn’t have been that hard for them to do a basic white cell count. No other scans, tests, nothing, simply a white cell count from a basic blood test would have signaled alarm bells loud enough that they would have admitted me to the hospital, immediately.
A few key things I have learned: I always keep Gatorade on hand. My potassium levels had dropped and there is nothing worse than a potassium IV. It will tear up your veins. Pick a flavor, they have regular sugar, low sugar, and fake sugar. I just keep six bottles in the garage, now. I also keep jello on hand. Easy to make a batch. Another key item I keep is bullion. You can get organic bullion, now, in a jar, that you keep in the fridge. Add to a little stock and you have an instant broth. Throw in a sprig of thyme and you have a flavorful, healthy broth.
I learned about broth because when I went for a colonoscopy the local clinic made us drink full salt broth as part of the prep the night before. They also had us mix the laxative with Gatorade. If your sodium, potassium, and sugars become unbalanced, as mine did, due to vomiting or lack of appetite, those fluids are critical. Much easier to drink them than have an IV drip after nearly dying.
Fiber. I added that to my diet. I simply don’t get enough. The orange kind is not horrible. I take two scoops at night, in water, and am good to go.
Blame: I can appreciate what you are saying. Thing are just so beyond royally fucked within the US and in general. We really do need a major event and to sort of start over, start fresh. Because this thing we call life, society, Gov’t ,whatever is seriously fucked up the ass and not at all working for 99% of us citizens.
I can concur and absolutely can relate. I have been through similar, twice. Doctors and medical personnel just don’t want to get involved. And, since their pay comes from corporations, they will them protect corporations instead of their patients. The corps can ‘pay’ a physician for their ‘opinion’, and that isn’t ever considered ‘pay to play’, or bribery, or collusion, or corruption, or anything. And it takes YEARS to get a settlement because the whole system is designed for business, profits. Yeah, it is a disgusting, mind boggling, and insane system of ‘health care’.
blame-e: HMO’s cannot be trusted, they ration and everyone is a #. I used to be in one decades ago, never again. Got other ins. in my 20’s, then got tonsils out and another surgery unrelated after that, when I should have had tonsils out earlier. So far now on medicare, haven’t heard of rationing except those w/o other ins.
The decline appears deliberate intent with purpose. Humans dying and being liquified, then distributed into crop fields as nutrients. Fear of even going into a hospital and coming out alive. The government fully behind the use of glyphosate in all applications defending Monsanto and its long history of poisoning the population. You have no rights up against the mass death polluters on the planet in power positions. The land of depraved death merchant leadership.
Agenda 21 aljamo. 178 States(kakistocracies) signed it, a depopulation agenda. StopTheWar.net, is a great place to look into the realities of this. And, I completely concur with you.
I’ve also heard that there are superbugs in some of the IV lines.
Wow, superbugs in your pipes, I passed this on to any gay friends you might have.
Instead of disease care, we need true health care.
People on average give little thought to the type of family they marry into. Sure, some people are impressed by a families wealth, but what about its health. Don’t you all realize that the children will inherit diseases carried in the genes. When you start dating, does that fact make the slightest bit of difference? Probably not. Because we all have been conditioned NOT to think in those terms. But people used to think like that.
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Agree: before marrying and breeding people should be forced to undergo genetic testing to make sure they do not pass on these weaknesses. Currently, we have people actually smuggly saying they are proud to pass on genetic deformities to the next generation. The mentally retarded, the stunted, etc. should not be having children.
As for hospitals and healthcare, the whole concept needs a revolution. Most hospitals are giant money sinkholes that are as likely to kill you with opportunistic infections as save you. Hospitals should be like a university campus or holiday resort: a place where you go if you have the most need; as for everything else, prevention is the best option. The UK’s NHS wastes vast sums and has the worst cancer survival and detection rates in Europe. That is a good example of a system that just is not working in the best interests of human beings.
Frank T: Agree genetic testing should be mandated by insurance that couples who want to become parents should be screened. Diseases like thyroid, type 2 or cancers in parents, adult children can pass down (some diseases skip a generation like type 1) should not be allowed to be passed down, solution is to adopt or stay childless.
family’s
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Isn’t indoor environments sterile enough. A doctor told me not to go crazy avoiding germs. He said normal hand washing and bathing is sufficient. His reason is that you build up immunity to germs. If you avoid germs you don’t build up immunity and when you do get sick it’s overwhelming. Never had a flu shot in my life got the flu once two years ago suffered through it. If your taking huge amounts of antibiotics instead of letting shit take its course because you want instant relief for the misery isn’t helping you imo. I’m no doctor just sayin what works for me. I hardly ever get sick but when I do it sux for about a week then I’m good. Learned this from not having insurance for many years. Before modern medicine people suffered through shit and usually came through.
Your age too determines what treatment you may get for a particular disease. Some surgeries will be withheld because of age. They might as well give you a poison pill and say “it was nice knowing you”.
Keep electrolyte drinks, like gatorade, in stock in case of any virus or cold involving diarrhea. They help avoid dehydration. Every operation is two parts. Simultaneous operations on your savings and you. One of the worst parts about getting old, is the attitude you get on having a physical ailment:”What do you expect? You’re old!”.
Safe disposal of medical waste is getting to be an industry in itself. It includes living and non-living materials. Thing about mercury amalgam fillings, needles, used bandages, etc. Just throwing them in the trash doesn’t keep them from becoming a problem.
I’m sure the PTB, the kakistocracy’s WHO, CDC, etc, have enough virulent organisms on their own without hospitals helping them out. All these snoopy scientists did was give ideas to the psychopaths pushing Agenda 21/et al.
Copper metal kills almost all pathogens on contact. When I was young, pipes were copper & door handles and push plates were brass. These have since been replaced w/ stainless steel or plastic. It’s cheaper, but won’t kill germs.
Back to the 50’s, man. 🙂