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http://www.myfoxal.com/story/25621767/2-...ign=buffer

I'm not really sure how this is exactly news but someone asked me about it today at work. Apparently 8 patients have tested positive for Legionellosis.

Not gonna lie, I thought this was a prank joke about Legion Field.

(05-27-2014 11:49 PM)BamaScorpio69 Wrote:  Not gonna lie, I thought this was a prank joke about Legion Field.

It's news because it's a preventable death they caught at the hospital. Sadly, this happens at all hospitals.

They did not necessarily die from the infections.

(05-28-2014 06:48 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  They did not necessarily die from the infections.

It is highly likely the infections contributed to their deaths, if it didn't kill them outright. Having eight patients contract this while in your care isn't good for your image, regardless of how common it is in hospitals.

This may be apocryphal, and LairDweller or someone who actually works in the medical industry can correct me, but my understanding is the longer you are in the hospital, the more likely it is you will die of something you contract while in the hospital, and not from the reason for which you were admitted.

(05-28-2014 09:07 AM)Grammar-Nazi Wrote:  

(05-28-2014 06:48 AM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  They did not necessarily die from the infections.

It is highly likely the infections contributed to their deaths, if it didn't kill them outright. Having eight patients contract this while in your care isn't good for your image, regardless of how common it is in hospitals.

This may be apocryphal, and LairDweller or someone who actually works in the medical industry can correct me, but my understanding is the longer you are in the hospital, the more likely it is you will die of something you contract while in the hospital, and not from the reason for which you were admitted.

It's logical that the longer you are in a hospitial, the more likely you are to catch a nosocomial or hospital-acquired infection. Here's a graphic with data from 2009:


Source: http://www.ahipcoverage.com/2011/07/15/n...nfections/

When you are in a hospital, you are surrounded by more infectious sick people and because of some treatments, your immune system may be compromised. My father went into the UAB hospital with Lymphoma and was treated with "chemo". This wiped out his immune system (a similar problem with transplant patients) and a few days later he contracted a fatal pneumonia infection. His Death Certificate read "Lymphoma" but he actually died from the pneumonia, an HAI.

Yes...hospitals make people sick. That's why we try to kick people out as soon as safely possible.

Hospitals: full of sick people.

Ironically enough, this outbreak wasn't caused by being around sick people. It just exists naturally and the water systems of large buildings can breed it sometimes.

Nosocomial infections happen. No matter how hard you work at sterile fields and patient isolation, handwashing, whatever.... it's just going to happen. All you can do is to do everything possible to prevent them, and if they happen try to find out why and fix it.

I agree that the above posts have the correct medical facts.

However, The PR for UAB will be a disaster with John Q Public. Our discretionary admissions will tumble. Further it is apparent that we tried to keep it quiet. This will lack of transparency will prolong our troubles.

(05-28-2014 08:23 PM)uabbean Wrote:  I agree that the above posts have the correct medical facts.

However, The PR for UAB will be a disaster with John Q Public. Our discretionary admissions will tumble. Further it is apparent that we tried to keep it quiet. This will lack of transparency will prolong our troubles.

I doubt it becomes that serious. It'll be in the news for another week or so and by next month everyone will have forgotten about that and will remember why they were going to UAB in the first place.

I know of a number of post surgery staph infections coming out of Brookwood Hospital over the last few years. Ever hear about it?

(05-28-2014 11:19 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  I know of a number of post surgery staph infections coming out of Brookwood Hospital over the last few years. Ever hear about it?

Yep.... My mom was one of them. Didnt want her there, but ended up that way. She got an infection while at Brookwood that messed her up. All downhill after that.. Should not have happened.

Afterwards I heard some not so good things about the facility.

Hope it has changed.