United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

We just had our 1st reported case of MRSA in Frankies school yesterday, Now I'm in a panic. Frankie has a weak immune system and is allergic to all the childhood shots. He was given the Hep B shot as a baby and got Hep B 21 days in the hospital, the DPT gave him seizures and 105 temp and two years ago he contracted whooping cough. Doctors at the infectious disease center said they hadn't seen a case in 4 years but he got it and it lasted 4 months. I'm not sure if it has anything to do with his BPI but at birth frankies white blood count was very low and he remained in the hospital for a week having spinal taps and blood test and was on antibiotics to treat or prevent infection and on oxygen because he would stop breathing probably because his lung was affected by the bpi. At 14 his left lung is smaller and weaker and he gets phenomena and resptory infections. Our PCP said his white blood cells were affected because of the bpi it drops when you get hurt and your body goes into shock and having 5 nerves ripped out at the spinal cord must of felt like a train hit him. What a way to come into this world. Maybe that's why he has such a high tolerance for pain. I sent him to school with hand sanitizer I just pray he uses it. Mare

Praying he doesnt get infected.

Maggie has a very high tolerence for pain too. The things these kids go through, they are such troopers.

MRSA,or Methicillin- resistant Staphylococcus aureus is getting to be a big problem. The BIGGEST thing you can do is to make sure all of your son's cuts( no matter how small) are covered. This is how this infection spreads. We have this bug on our skin naturally. It is only a problem when we get it in a wound or cut.If one doesn't go away then go to the doctor and get it tested. THe gel is somewhat a good idea. I have stopped useing it and have gone to good old hand washing. The gel kills all the bacteria and virus on your skin which is not the best thing. 99% of these things will not hurt us. If we kill the harmless bacteria then the bad will have more room and nutrients to grow. It took me a long time to give up my antibacterial soap and gel(I still use these sometimes when i know im working with pathogens.) WIth your son the gel might be the better option becouse i know how hard it is for my kids to stand still for more then 30 seconds and wash there hands. Take heart that this infection still happens very little. With your son having a weak immune system I would be on a lookout for infection too.
P.S. I am wondering did you put off his shot after he had all these reactions to the ones he had. My daughter (non bpi) had reactions( not as bad) and we put off more shot for about a year. The school was not understanding of this at all.

Here is what I found on the CDC's website (I just cut and pasted a small portion on prevention).

* Wash your hands often or use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer
* Keep your cuts and scrapes clean and cover them with bandages
* Do not touch other people's cuts or bandages
* Do not share personal items like towels or razors

If you have any questions about your condition, please ask your doctor.

For more information, please visit: http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/dhqp/ar_mrsa.html.

Yes, there are more cases of community acquired MRSA noted recently. Keep in mind, we as consumers in general, along with the providers who we see (doctors, nurse practitioners, physician's assistants, etc.) have contributed to this for a number of years by insisting and carelessly prescribing antibiotics without merit for illnesses (such as the common cold, suspecting strep throat without getting a confirmation culture when in fact it might just be a sore throat from post-nasal drip, and so on).

HAND WASHING and NOT TOUCHING AN OPEN CUT/WOUND (whether your own or someone else's) is the best method of preventing infection! Hand washing should be about the length of time it takes you to sing "Happy Birthday" to yourself. I know, that seems like an incessantly long period of time, but it is the recommended period of time to create friction and get the soap on the front and back of the hands, and don't forget underneath the fingernails and wrists. I can't count the number of times I see people walk out of a bathroom in the mall or restaurant who barely touch their hands together when washing after using the ladies room. Yuck! Practice, practice, practice. Good habits shown by parents develop good habits in their children. Everyone is exposed to MRSA in the community and you have no idea. Everyone just doesn't get sick. Don't freak out...just use good sense and don't overtreat with antibiotics so that more "superbugs" develop! MRSA used to be just in hospitals, nursing homes, and prisons due to close proximity of individuals. Just my rant on the topic. Sorry, can't help it...it's the nurse in me.

I hope everyone had a great Happy Halloween and didn't get too much candy like my kids did. I can hear all the candy calling me while the kids are in school!

Tanya in NY
Amber's Mom, ROBPI, almost 5 years old

Thanks for the all of the helpful information. I agree with the over-medication of antibiotics...but hey, if the drug companies are giving you all kinds of perks for prescribing their drugs...how can you really say no.

Tanya...just say NO to the candy...you have the power!!!

Crystal
Frankie also has a severe allergy to latex resulting in a 3rd degree burn during his primary surgery where the tourniquet was put. His doctors feel its not worth the risk of giving him his shots at any age since the results could be worse then the illness itself. Frankie is allergy tested every year for latex and they feel since this allergy hasn't lessened his others most likely haven't either. Washing hands is very hard for Frankie he only has use of his right hand the left is very floppy and has no muscle control or feeling. At home I wash his hands and at school he mostly just puts liquid soap on his hand and runs the water over it he can't rub his hand together the wrist goes backwards and can break. With the sanitizing gel he can get it on his hand and work it around and I feel it may be cleaner then just a second of soap and water. Mare

Tanya
Thanks for this important post!

Hand washing is so important. I didn't know about the Happy Birthday song! I'll start singing it and my family will think I am hinting... 9 days until my birthday...LOL.

I became a better and more frequent hand washer after our 1 preemie granddaughters were born and found we all have had less colds.
I thought I was pretty careful about hand washing until then.

Kath robpi/adult

Kath,

Amber's birthday is Monday! Two hearts so close together in birthdays! Happy Birthday to you...

Tanya in NY
Amber's Mom, ROBPI, almost 5 years old

since the topic was infection I wanted to write that I have experience using e-stim to clear out infection in an extremity.... do some research and you'll learn how e-stim is used for wound healing, to introduce medications, etc. I used e-stim to cure my daughter from "molluscum contagiosum" a virus (looks like chicken pox but with a hard core to the lesion) - she had over 700 lesions and they were spreading like wildfire. And when Maia had surgery and got major staph infections in her thumb web space (from the splint) - we used e-stim to clear it up (that last time) and it worked overnight. It was amazing...and I wish I had thought about it and researched before that last time so she wouldn't have had such pain and trouble from the infections previously.

For the staph infection in her thumb web space we used the TES nighttime e-stim. (microcurrent) and did her regular placements of triceps.... and it must have pushed everthing out of her limb to her lymph nodes I assume.

What's the premise of the TES stim unit? to bring more circulation to the affected arm.... why? because the arm has decreased circulation - so was Maia's infection not clearing out because her circulation is decreased? Since she was used to sleeping wiht TES, I tried it just to see - and it cleared up the infection almost over night.... I put it on her for a 2nd night just to get anything that might have been left over.

For her molluscum we used a special stim unit made specifically for molluscum (based on the Hulda Clark theories). For parasites we used yet a different kind of stim unit that zaps parasites based on the same theories.

E-stim was a life saver for Maia..... micro current units are really cheap (I saw them recently for under $50) - I'd get one and keep it in the first aid kit - with a fresh battery - ready-to-use.

do some reading.... look up e-stim for wound healing, and to introduce medicines, etc.

Francine
Thanks for the info especially since my arm surgery is Wed and for some reason I tend to get alot of minor infections after surgery. I have Frankies estim machine here and will give it a try. Do you put the pads directly on the infection site? Mare