Continuing Our March to the Dark Ages

At least two people have died and a further seven exposed to a deadly strain of drug-resistant superbug bacteria at a hospital on the UCLA campus. Authorities are notifying 179 more people that have potentially been exposed.

[...]

Doctors at the Ronald Reagan Medical Center, where the outbreak occurred, believe the moment of infection happened “during complex endoscopic procedures that took place between October 2014 and January 2015,” according to CBS.

“These outbreaks at UCLA and other hospitals could collectively be the most significant instance of disease transmission ever linked to a contaminated reusable medical instrument,” believes Larence Muscarella, a safety consultant at Ronald Reagan.

[...]

A total of 32 patients were infected with contaminated endoscopes at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle between 2012 and 2014, the hospital has acknowledged last month. The infection was a similar strain to the CRE found at UCLA.

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Although the scopes were sterilized in accordance with standard procedure, their very construction carries with it a risk of bacterial buildup. It turns out the scope could have transmitted the infection during a procedure “to diagnose and treat pancreaticobiliary diseases,” at least that is the working theory at this time.

  RT

So….once infected, is a person contagious?

The superbug itself is difficult to treat, and there is risk that “This bacteria is emerging in the US and it's associated with a high mortality rate,” Dr. Alex Kallen with the CDC told the LA Times. “We don’t want this circulating anywhere in the community.”

That sounds like a “yes”.

In other regressive news:

Taking a page from the National Rifle Association and tapping into the national spotlight on sexual assault on college campuses, lawmakers from Florida to Nevada are introducing legislation to permit the carrying of firearms at universities.

Eleven states are considering such proposals, the New York Times reported.

  RT

Let me ask it, even though it seems obvious…won’t perps be carrying? Or will permits only be issued to women?

What could possibly go wrong?

And then there’s this tidbit…

EU member states have voted to allow secret evidence to be used for the first time in one of Europe’s highest courts.

All but one of the EU’s 28 countries agreed to let the General Court of the EU to consider evidence, including from intelligence agencies, in closed sessions.

Only Britain abstained after it demanded more assurances that any sensitive evidence it hands over would be safeguarded.

  The Bureauof Investigative Journalism

Et tu, Europe?