The mainstream media has been effectively spreading fear regarding the spread of Ebola in West Africa, and the recent diagnosis and death of Thomas Eric Duncan, the first Ebola victim on American soil. Some in the public were quite shocked by the public response to this case of Ebola. The patient, after stating his symptoms and the fact that he traveled from Liberia to a hospital nurse, was simply dismissed to go back home with antibiotics. Some of this may be due to basic lack of communication among hospital staff, but Thomas lacked health insurance, and that may have played a role. In the past, the Center for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) or even a unit of the U.S. Army Medical Research Unit of Infectious Diseases (USAMRIID) may have played a role in quarantining and decontaminate Thomas Duncan’s living quarters. In this era of privatization, the private company, CleaningGuys.com, best known for removing sidewalk graffiti, performed the decontamination several days after Ebola was diagnosed.
This incident definitely illustrates flaws in the public health system, many of which did not exist before. The budget of the CDC has been cut by $1 billion since 2002, and over that same stretch of time, over 40,000 public health professionals have been removed from their jobs for the sake of budget cuts. The notion is that the private sector and market forces are better at handling the public’s health is proving false, and a red line must be drawn making it clear when public health and safety comes before profit. Market forces determining whether people favor one product over another is one matter, however, market forces determining whether one lives or dies is another. When it comes to healthcare, market forces always have worked best when businesses compete to devise new technologies and techniques to detect, prevent, and treat illness.
As scary as Ebola may seem, the fact remains, it takes close contact with the body fluids of someone exhibiting the disease to catch it, and officially only one person in America had the disease. Now granted, Thomas may have spread the disease to others, but consider that it is already known by the CDC that there are 75,309 cases of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA, infection in the United States, and some will definitely result in deaths. MRSA is a strain of staph bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics and traditional therapies. You don’t have to travel to West Africa to get an MRSA infection as they can be caught by your local hospital or healthcare provider. About 1 in 20 patients each year get a hospital acquired infection while undergoing healthcare.
Sheets, towels, and TV remotes in hospitals can be key reservoirs of contamination for MRSA contamination. Bloodstream infections have been occurring through central lines used in intensive care units (ISU) and out-patient hemodialysis machines, and one out of 4 patients who acquire a bloodstream infection die. MRSAs have been a silent killer of patients seeking to fulfill their healthcare needs, and are rarely talked about in the media.
Healthcare technology company Zenosense is a perfect example of how the private sector can fight the battle against MRSAs, beginning with early detection. The company has devised a new type of sensor that detects the volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released from an MRSA infection, and the design of this sensor is ready for manufacturing. The electronics technology and new sensor are expected to be integrated in the coming weeks to produce the first prototype for laboratory detection of MRSA/SA in cultures. Based on similar technology, Zenosense has developed a sensor for lung cancer as well. Zenosense is well positioned to play a major role in cutting down the case load due to MRSA infections.
For more information, visit www.zenosense.net
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