This is a discussion post response. The response is justgiving feedback and your opinion on the students post. This needs to be at least 100 words a piece inlength. PLEASE KEEP THEM SEPARATE!!

Post 1

As a nursing facility I amsure you are aware that many illnesses run rampant through places like these.Take one nurse for example, she may have 10 patients on her unit and has directcontact with them all. 7 of these patients go to the dining hall for dinner.The following day, 5 patients come down with diarrhea. One of these patientsrecently came back from the hospital with pneumonia and was put on antibiotics.

These patients all have C. Diff, which due to allthe contact is spreading through the home. This nurse has only been using handsanitizer between patients and is not using PPE as she did not know the patienthad C. Diff. All of these patients are older and have been using antibioticsfor years. They have become resistant to many of the common antibioticstherefore treating any kind of infection, pneumonia, UTIs, etc. becomes verydifficult.The more antibiotics are used the harder it is to treat illnesses.Some illnesses are so common and have been treated with antibiotics so oftenthey have become resistant to them.

Bacteria can duplicate very quickly and thereforemutations in DNA can happy faster. Some of these mutations can allow moreantibacterial resistance for example lessening cell entry points for theantibiotic, a change in enzymes that makes it more difficult to inhabit them.Once the bacteria have mutated and become resistant the antibiotic will stillkill the non-resistant bacteria. Now only the resistant bacteria can mutate canduplicate and you end up with only resistant bacteria. This will result in the needfor new antibiotics to be develop to handle the mutated strain.

Post 2

your son has been diagnosed with a MRSA infection. MRSA standsfor Methicillin Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. Staph itself is a very commonbacteria that is present on the skin of about a third of the population.Outside of the body this bacteria is usually harmless and it is kept from overmultiplying by other bacteria and flora present on skin. It’s when thisbacteria finds a way to enter the body that an infection occurs. Factors thatleave an individual more prone to staph infections include:
1.skin injuries
2.tattoos
3.body piercings
4.close contact with others who are infected or colonized
5.Sharing equipment or supplies not cleaned between users
6.Spending time in concentrated groups of people such as schools, prisons,military barracks, and hospitals
MRSAis a sub group of staphylococcus that has become resistant to the antibioticscommonly used to treat Staph infections. Basically, the bacteria has evolved inways that allow it to survive conventional treatment. Bacterial resistance hasgrown in recent years because of a number of factors including the overuse ofantibiotics and the misuse of them by those that they were prescribed to.Through repeated exposures to our medicines bacteria have learned how to changethemselves in ways to ensure their survival. Because MRSA is resistant to manyof the standard treatments, your son will have to be treated with alternateantibiotics that are still effective against this infection. He will also haveto remain on the antibiotics longer because we want to try to ensure anylingering bacteria are killed and not allowed to survive and build a resistanceto these antibiotics.

Inthe future, to prevent any new infections, encourage your child to wash theirhands frequently and thoroughly, avoid sharing personal products, keep cuts andscrapes covered, avoid contact with others wounds, and always shower after teamsports or group activities in which skin to skin contact occurs.