European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - January 4, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse Sunday january a 1987 the stars and stripes Pago Hospital acquired infections kill thousands new York up an estimated 2.i million patients contract infections in hospitals each year represent ing about 5 percent id 6 percent of All a la cols shirt or. Robert Haley director of preventive Medicine at the University of Taai health science Center. Haley who has directed studies on Hospital infections at the Center for Dis ease control in Atlanta illustrates what he says is a leading health care concern. Several years ago a High technology device that measured blood pressure in the arteries was marketed to hospitals for use in heir intensive care units. The manufacturer instructions advised Hospital staff to discard the pump s plastic membrane which came in direct Contact with the patient s blood after every use. Dut several hospitals used the membrane Over and Over again As a Cost saving measure in Many cases the a Chriine devel oped tiny holes through which bacteria could pass and is a result a number of patients contracted blood poisoning investigators eventually revealed the source of the problem but not until some of the Pali nos had died. It usually takes on investigation to find the source but once it s found it can usually be corrected pretty easily said Haley. If you add up All the deaths from to spill acquired infections Hen it be comes one at the id leading causes of death in this country. And it s getting the infections which can usually be traced to common bacteria cause approximately 20,000 deaths a year and contribute to the deaths of another 60,000 patients he said. Bacteria Are everywhere but a person in a Hospital is much More at risk than a person Al Home Haley said for one thing they Are sick so their immune sys tems Are depressed and for another germs arc More prevalent in hospitals because that s where sick people Haley said a Malcria cause four com Mon Hospital infections the Roost deadly being blood poisoning from bacteria that enter the bloodstream. Hospital acquired pneumonia which is fairly common in comatose patients is also life threatening. Haley said bacteria nourish in the lower unused portion of the lungs of Hospital patients who breathe shallowly either because they Are unconscious or because they have had abdominal surgery that makes deep breathing painful the most costly infections arc those of surgical wounds when dead tissue or pools of blood left inside a patient after an operation become infected by Ever present bacteria he said. Another common infection is Hull of the urinary tract caused by catheters that carry staph germs he said. In the past decade the number of has r Tal infections has been on the Rise Alcy said. Because of modern medical technology that can save lives that would have been quickly lost even us recently As 10 years ago patients in hospitals now Are sicker than Ever before and Ore More Likely to be subject to invasive tests and treatments that open Ihm up to infection. This technology is beneficial but we re paying for it with the High Price of opportunistic infections he said. Luckily we re aware of the the joint commissions on accreditation a private group that accredits Hospi tals now requires Alt hospitals to have a program to Monitor and investigate infections. Sister strikes a note of Joy sister Miriam rejoices after a Good Roll at the strike ind spare Bowling Alley in Nashville Tenn. The Bowling party was part of the annual reunion for the dominican Sisters Oft. Cecilia. Contras ruled out As Charity Case Washington a the state department blocked a plan to declare the main nicaraguan rebel group a charitable organization which would have made it eligible to receive Federal food for peace Aid according to a published report saturday. Elliot Abrams assistant Secretary of slate for inter american affairs said in an interview with the Washington Post that the idea from the . Embassy in Honduras seemed very appropriate and very Legal Bui he said the decision not to do anything with it was a straight political decision it was More than the traffic will Bear politically the embassy raised the idea last summer at a Lime when inc rebels appeared to be running out of Money and Congress had not yet approved $100 million in military and other Aid the newspaper said. Defining the United nicaraguan opposition the political and military Arm of the contras As a private voluntary organization would have made it eligible for food for peace funds from the Agency for International development. The idea was to provide Money to the rebels for an estimated 50,000 to 70,000 refugees in Honduras who Are not in Camps. However Aid officials according to Anonymous sources quoted by the Post recoiled from the idea fearing it would harm the Agency s credibility As a humanitarian organization Canadian group buying up papers Chicago a a Canadian based company has completed the Purchase of 23 . Daily newspapers in six states and is negotiating for 10 Canadian dailies in a combined Deal Worth an estimated si03 million. Hollinger inc. Completed the . Acquisitions which also included several other publications in four separate transactions the last on wednesday said John Boultbee vice president of the Toronto based company the major reason for the Purchase is that the United slates is the Only place left with any Independent newspapers foul Locc said in a Telephone interview. Up Here virtually All of them have been snatched up by newspaper groups. The company exp Cli very shortly to Complete the Purchase of Sterling newspapers Ltd. Of Canada and its 10 dailies one weekly and two sunday newspapers said Charles Cowen a vice president. Cowan said the newspapers will be Apt rated much the same As they have been All of the newspapers in the United stain arc held in Hollinger s wholly owned , subsidiary american pub Lishing co., a Delaware corporation formed in november. Surviving mate of bad marriage May suffer More Chicago a women bothered by unresolved marital problems or who have allowed their husbands to make All major decisions arc among the most de pressed in he first weeks after the death of their spouse a researcher says some of them fed a tit Etc bit guilty hat things did t work out or that things were unsaid or undone or. Joseph Flaherty said Friday. It s just hard to give up people if there s a conflict but Flaherty said that if you had a Good marriage you probably will have a Good those people who were probably More attached and positive about their spouses actually do belter in the first year added Flaherty an associate professor of psychiatry and preventive Medicine at the univer sity of Illinois Chicago. He also Heads a continuing study of spouse Bereave ment there and at the University of Pittsburgh in a project funded by the Macarthur foundation Flaherty and five other researchers Are studying the bereavement spouses fare during the first year after the death of a husband or wife. Preliminary findings indicate people who had bad marriages suffer More depression shortly after the death of a spouse Rahert said. During the past five months the researchers have interviewed 60 to 65 widows or widowers most so to 70 years old whose spouses died within the previous five week period. Follow up interviews arc planned a year later and researchers Hope to recruit a total of 150 volunteers. Another preliminary finding was that widows who slept on their own Side of the bed after their husband s death were less depressed than those who switched. Those that stay on their own Side of the bed Proba Bly have a Little More self esteem and arc More robust mentally Flaherty said. Maybe those move Over to the other Side of the bed because they re having difficulty giving up the loss or Are keeping him in that he said widows also tended to fare better if they found other people to join them in activities they had shared with their husband. The really traditional women. And those who have really looked to their husbands for their plans also appear especially depressed he said. Though most volunteers so far have been women Flaherty said preliminary findings apply to both sexes although men lend not in show their grief As much shortly after a male s death. Sometimes the woman has been the powerhouse of the family and made All the decisions and the Man is left wondering what to do he said or. Paula Clayton who Heads the department of psychiatry Al inc University of Minnesota in Minneapolis and has done intensive bereavement Rob curd said Flaherty s study sounded conscientious. She said a study about 10 years ago found i Ojile with the worst and Best marriages fared Best while thaw with ambivalent marriages did less Well. I think if you had a terrible marriage you Don t mind getting out of it she said Friday if you have a real Strong marriage you have enough of your Hus band s spirit left in you to carry you
