Norway eradicates mrsa bacteria by reducing antibiotic use

[Guest guest]

OSLO, Norway – Aker University Hospital is a dingy place to heal. The

floors are streaked and scratched. A light layer of dust coats the blood

pressure monitors. A faint stench of urine and bleach wafts from a pile of

soiled

bedsheets dropped in a corner.

Look closer, however, at a microscopic level, and this place is pristine.

There is no sign of a dangerous and contagious staph infection that killed

tens of thousands of patients in the most sophisticated hospitals of Europe,

North America and Asia this year, soaring virtually unchecked.

The reason: Norwegians stopped taking so many drugs.

Twenty-five years ago, Norwegians were also losing their lives to this

bacteria. But Norway's public health system fought back with an aggressive

program that made it the most infection-free country in the world. A key part of

that program was cutting back severely on the use of antibiotics.

Now a spate of new studies from around the world prove that Norway's model

can be replicated with extraordinary success, and public health experts are

saying these deaths — 19,000 in the U.S. each year alone, more than from

AIDS — are unnecessary.

" It's a very sad situation that in some places so many are dying from this,

because we have shown here in Norway that Methicillin-resistant

Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) can be controlled, and with not too much effort, "

said Jan

Hendrik-Binder, Oslo's MRSA medical adviser. " But you have to take it

seriously, you have to give it attention, and you must not give up. "

The World Health Organization says antibiotic resistance is one of the

leading public health threats on the planet. A six-month investigation by The

Associated Press found overuse and misuse of medicines has led to mutations in

once curable diseases like tuberculosis and malaria, making them harder and

in some cases impossible to treat.

Now, in Norway's simple solution, there's a glimmer of hope.

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