Woman fears spreading antibiotic-resistant bug
Mar 24 2005

REGINA – A former Pasqua Hospital patient who contracted an antibiotic-resistant illness that usually occurs only in hospitals is worried about making others sick. Rae Hart was diagnosed with MRSA, or methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus, about a month ago. Now her neighbour, David Huber, who visited her while she was in the hospital for surgery and later at home, has come down with the bug, too. “I don’t know if the system is coming clean on how spreadable this MRSA is in the general population,” Hart said. “I felt reasonably confident when I left the hospital that I wasn’t a danger to anybody. But this has been a real wake-up call, for my neighbor to come down with it so quickly.” Earlier this week, Huber was diagnosed with a skin infection caused by MRSA. “I did everything I was asked to do in the hospital, like gown, wash, mask and gloves,” he said. “I don’t know how I got it.” He thinks he caught the bacteria at Hart’s home after she was released from the hospital. Hart is concerned about that because nurses told her she shouldn’t worry about transmitting the bug after her release, she said. “We asked so many questions in the hospital...and the answers were always the same: ‘When you leave here, it’s life as normal,’” she said. A spokesperson with Regina Qu’appelle Health District said there’s no evidence the two infections are connected. Kathy Lloyd said even if Hart still carries the bacteria, she’s not a danger to healthy people. Usually only people who are already sick or have weakened immune systems get ill because of MRSA. Lloyd said proper hand washing is the best way to protect against any infection.