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Joined: May 2000
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: May 2000
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The word "nosocomial" can be contrasted with "iatrogenic", which describes an infection, disease, etc., acquired from a doctor's treatment.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Nosocomial versus iatrogenic. Doctors may aggravate illness. But ancillary caregivers can also cause a lot of trouble. Some efficiency expert in hospital where I worked had idea that labor would be saved by no longer washing sheets on medical and surgical wards. So heavily fecally soiled sheets were thrown down the laundry chutes, and it was several years before some genius discovered that fecally coated laundry chutes were blasting bacterial aerosols into wards every time chutes were used.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
Goodness, Bill, you're posting "below the fold!!"    I didn't mean to suggest that you go to such depths....
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
"below the fold!!"
...but will the infection spread?
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
one of my subscribers suggested the word 'nosoconial' to me, under the misguided(!) impression that he had found an obscure military term. this is by way of saying that we shouldn't be surprised that the only traffic here previously was the slightly misplaced (but ineluctably serendipitous) 'ballroom' thread.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
There was an article in New England Journal of Medicine back in middle 50's about a situation that combined nosocomial and iatrogenic. A search for source of infections with a particular strain of antibiotic resistant staphylococcus in Mass General revealed that an anesthetist was a rectal carrier, and in passing flatus in OR had spread aerosols of the bacteria. I have wondered how his ostracism from OR might have been made unnecessary. Perhaps an astronaut suit.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60 |
I'm a newcomer here, so please tolerate my redundancy if a similar response has already been posted.
Correction: "iatrogenic" means caused by healing or curing processes, not caused by doctors. It is a common misconception that doctors do the healing, when, in hospitals most definitely, and often in other settings, healing is facilitated by the actions of many others. The most numerous "others" are nurses, who come in all shapes and forms, from nurse assistants to PhD researchers. (And, of course, ultimately healing is effected by our own bodies, not the actions of others.)
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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 4,757 |
Welcome! You will find the cure effected by this establishment is completely unique, and probably far worse than the illness you bring here... Tell us more, 'cause I am otherwise just relying on standard look-up:
i·at·ro·gen·ic (ī-ăt'rə-jĕn'ĭk)
adj.
Induced in a patient by a physician's activity, manner, or therapy. Used especially of an infection or other complication of treatment.
i·at'ro·gen'i·cal·ly adv.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition Copyright © 1992, 1996 by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60 |
Ooops.....I'd always thought the Greek root iatr referred to healing, but apparently not: From Merriam-Webster: One entry found for iatrogenic. Main Entry: iat·ro·gen·ic Pronunciation: (")I-"a-tr&-'je-nik Function: adjective Etymology: Greek iatros physician + English -genic Date: 1924 : induced inadvertently by a physician or surgeon or by medical treatment or diagnostic procedures <an iatrogenic rash> - iat·ro·gen·i·cal·ly /-'je-ni-k(&-)lE/ adverb I guess this lets us nurses off the hook.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
And when an iatrogenic disease occurs, guess who gets sued.
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