You may have read [our coverage](http://cmglaw.com/Blog/2019/05/Fungus-Prompts-Closures-of-ORs-at-S) of emergency rooms and surgical suites infected with fungal spores. Most people have at least some background knowledge that MRSA has been widely reported in hospitals for years. These are all in part due to difficulty achieving and maintaining complete sterilization.
It turns out that many of these efforts need to address the visible bugs that do, believe it or not, proliferate in our hospitals. Researchers in England spent eighteen months trapping flies, aphids, ants, wasps, bees, and moths at seven hospitals. They collected nearly 20,000 insects and tested each for presence of germs. The researchers found that nearly ninety percent of insects carried potentially harmful bacteria on their bodies; half of these bugs carried drug-resistant bacteria (so-called “superbugs”), and nineteen percent carried bacterial strains resistant to multiple antibiotics.
There are several takeaways from the study. For one, the sheer amount of drug-resistant bacteria strains literally flying around shows some of the result of antibiotic overuse. Additionally, it shows that even the areas intended to be “clean” may unnecessarily expose patients to dangerous pathogens. The study goes to show that maintaining a sterile, or even clean medical environment requires consideration of many factors, including critters.
While hospitals around the world struggle to eradicate persistent pathogenic threats, this study helps to show just how varied those threats may be. Yet, it is the hospital’s duty to exercise reasonable care in maintaining a clean environment to protect its most vulnerable patients. It seems logical that this would include maintaining a plan to handle insects. When ninety percent of insects tested positive for pathogenic bacteria strains, the study goes to show why that is so important.
Read the study here: [Examination of Flying Insects in Seven Hospitals in the United Kingdom](https://academic.oup.com/jme/advance-article-abstract/doi/10.1093/jme/tjz086/5514158)
