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Respiratory Disorders (Expert Forum)
Cancer treatment NOW Staff Infection
Answered by
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Cancer treatment NOW Staff Infection
by SheilaPa, Apr 06, 2005 12:00AM
My grandpa is at MD Anderson--he just went thru an aggressive cancer treatment (cancer on his tongue) NOW he's in ICU with several problems...main problem is pneumonia and a staff infection that won't go away. Kidneys aren't at 100% either right now. They're sucking thick white stuff out of his lungs...they just changed the antibiotic they're giving him too. I don't know what my question really is other than why aren't the antibiotics working...what else can be done? Any insight on this would be helpful as I'm kinda uninformed in this area. Thanks!
Doctor's Answer
by National Jewish, Apr 11, 2005 12:00AM
, Apr 11, 2005 12:00AM
The elderly often have decreased resistance to infection. Also, many hospital acquired infections, including Staph, are resistant to antibiotics. They probably changed the antibiotic because they realized that the current one wasn't working or because the culture showed another bacterium. The kidneys often fail in response to infection elsewhere in the body.
MD Anderson Hospital has an excellent reputation. I am sure they are quite familiar with the problems your grandpa is experiencing and the best treatments for it. You and/or another family member should prepare a list of questions and then sit down with the Intensive Care doctors who are actually directing his present treatment.
MD Anderson Hospital has an excellent reputation. I am sure they are quite familiar with the problems your grandpa is experiencing and the best treatments for it. You and/or another family member should prepare a list of questions and then sit down with the Intensive Care doctors who are actually directing his present treatment.
Staphylococcus aureus (i.e. "Staph") is very problematic in all hospitals worldwide. Chances are high that your grandfather may have a more serious form of Staph. aureus termed MRSA, which stands for "methicillin resistant Staph. aureus." MRSA is resistant to all penicillins and methicillin. It is usually treated with IV Vancomycin, which is expensive and must be monitored by blood levels to make sure the patient has therapeutic levels circulating in his blood stream. It cannot be taken orally.
An infectious disease doctor is called in sometimes to consult on these infections. I'd check with your grandfather's doctors as to whether his Staph. infection is indeed MRSA. Find out if an ID doc has been consulted.
Make sure you and your family wash your hands THOROUGHLY after you visit his room, and keep your hands away from your faces and mouths during your visit. MRSA is spread by people not washing their hands after patient contact. He may be in some sort of isolation. If he is, respect the rules of the isolation. Do NOT bring small children in to see him - it's just too great of a risk (just my opinon). You can't trust little kids to keep their hands out of their eyes and mouths. They can also expose your grandfather to other bacterial infection sources, as they literally are little bacterial cultures on legs. No offense, but little kids are reservoirs of respiratory infections.
Cancer patients tend to have other resistant bacteria also, unfortunately. Patients are put on one level of antibiotics, those don't work, so they try more aggressive antibiotics or combinations thereof. Normal bacterial flora are wiped out, the patient has low white counts and can't fight off the infection, so other bacteria overgrow. It's not a pretty scenario, unfortunately. If he is in ICU, the bacteria picture on these patients in general is one of very resistant organisms, so exercise caution when visiting. Repeat this mantra: WASH YOUR HANDS!!!!
My best to you and your family. This is not an easy infection to get rid of, and can be quite serious, given your grandfather's medical history of oral cancer. The oral cavity is loaded with its own bacterial flora, which complicates matters quite a bit. I wish I could be more positive. Keep us posted.
Keep washing those hands. He's not out of the woods yet!
Good luck.