Viral Influenza and MRSA “The Deadly Duo of Children during 2009”
http://www.childrenshospital.org/newsroom/Site1339/mainpageS1339P791.html
The co-infection of viral influenza H1N1 and MRSA pneumonia of 2009 Flu pandemic claimed the lives of 75 children (9 percent) according to the Children’s Hospital Boston investigative report. This was said to be the “The largest nationwide investigation to date of influenza in critically ill children…”
Most children that are infected with viral influenza recover but when MRSA invades the lungs of an individual already weakened with the flu it can quickly become life threatening.
MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus) is in our environment both indoors and out and most of us have a natural immunity to these deadly bacteria as well as hundreds of others but when we become ill and our natural immune systems break down and become weakened we cannot fight malignant microbes very well.
Viral influenza and MRSA are airborne pathogens and are highly contagious. It is essential that hospitals maintain cleanliness standards above and beyond what many would call the “norm”. Many patients in hospitals are immunologically compromised and are very susceptible to malignant microbes that can and do exist in the hospital environment. Ongoing surface cleaning and sanitation, hand washing, and air purification and filtration can significantly reduce the spread of disease, bacteria, and viral infections.
There are many effective cleaning agents available for surfaces and hands and as for the air the most effective technology that destroys malignant microbes is photocatalytic oxidation. Prevention is the key. In addition to cleaning vaccinations are available for 3 different strains of influenza. The CDC recommends those 6 months of age and older to be vaccinated against viral influenza.