Responsible Use of Mupirocin in Hospital ICU
Amanda Kuxhausen
Fort Hays State University
Healthcare professionals have a unique social and environmental responsibility to promote well-being and the prevention of illness. American society has adopted a mentality expecting a quick fix when treating infection resulting in the irresponsible prescription and overuse of antibiotic therapies. Bacterial infections are becoming more difficult to treat because the organisms responsible for the infection have gained resistance to commonly prescribed antibiotics. One such organism is Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). MRSA infections are generally mild and usually present on the skin. However, this particular bacterium can…show more content… The antibiotic is selective against several strains of staphylococcal aureus and streptococcal bacterium that live in the nasal cavity. Application of the topical antibiotic eradicates the presence of these bacteria from the nasal passages of both adult patients and healthcare workers. This helps to prevent the possibility of nosocomial MRSA infection and keeps the critically ill from developing potentially life threatening infections in the lungs while admitted for treatment in the ICU. Critically ill patients often have weakened immune systems already taken over by a multitude of other medical conditions and may not have the immune response necessary to fight another infection. MRSA infections can delay the healing process and complicate the treatment of other…show more content… Repeated exposure of a bacterium to an antibiotic gives the infectious agent yet another attempt to beat the drug by acquiring antibiotic resistance. Once a bacteria cell acquires antibiotic resistance the antibiotic becomes ineffective in aiding the body’s immune response in fighting off the infection. The use of Mupirocin in the ICU at Wesley Medical Center could cause a further evolution of the bacterium resulting in a strain of MRSA that carries resistance to Mupirocin. A bigger question is how do we know this isn’t already happening? One study supports the identification of at least two strains of MRSA have already become resistant to the antibiotic Mupirocin. This incidence of resistance occurred in a rural hospital. MRSA can be carried to other people as it often lives in healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, and aides with little to no symptoms. This is especially dangerous in the ICU where patients with compromised immune systems can readily acquire the Mupirocin resistant organism (Kuar & Narayan,