drug-resistant bacteria

The real answer for ICU infections

Infections are spreading through intensive care units like a rumor through a quilting bee and there's one way and one way only to stop them: Docs and nurses need to clean their hands and clean their equipment.

But docs and nurses are like booger-picking kindergartners -- because no matter how many times you tell them to wash their filthy hands, they just won't do it.

I say dirty docs and nurses should be fired -- or at least put in a special "time out" corner -- but the mainstream has another idea: Make them wear special gowns while in the ICU.

What's next, moon suits?

The gowns, of course, do nothing to stop the spread of ICU infections. In one new study, gowns didn't stop the spread of VRE infections and made only the slightest of dents in the MRSA infection rate.

Not hard to see why. Gowns and gloves -- and moon suits, for that matter -- will ultimately be only as clean as the slobs who wear them. Put a clean gown on a dirty doc, and it won't be long before the gown itself is positively filthy.

Even a clean doc can turn a gown dirty by wearing it around the ward. And if he wears it outside the ward -- or outside the hospital, maybe out on a coffee run -- all bets are off.

Forget the gimmicks and stick with common sense -- make docs and nurses wash up and wash their equipment, and FIRE them when they don't.

Trust me, that single move will do more to stop the spread of germs than anything else -- and it won't cost hospitals a penny.

More germs than ever on supermarket meats

Gross-out time, my friend -- because if you're eating supermarket meats, there's a good chance you're eating poop.

Sorry, but there's no nicer way to put it now that a new analysis of government data finds filthy fecal bacteria on 87 percent of all meats tested. And if that doesn't have you reaching for your barf bag, maybe this will: Half of the germs are of the bulletproof "superbug" variety, resistant to nearly all drugs.

The problem, as I've told you time and again, is that America's factory farms have become the world's most dangerous bioweapons facilities. The animals live in such filthy conditions that they need to be dosed with antibiotics to keep them alive just long enough to reach the slaughterhouse door (and some need to be literally dragged inside).

This is great for meat producers, because the drugs not only allow them to cram more animals into every square inch of these festering holes, they also have the side effect of making the creatures fat.

And it's great for the bacteria, as they get a crash course in learning to resist antibiotics, becoming more powerful with each passing day.

But it's awful for you if you get sick -- because we're running out of options for treating infections caused by these superbugs.

So... what's for dinner again?

Don't worry -- I'm not about to recommend sprouts and beans. Vegetables are actually crawling with more germs than meat. (Read this for the shocking truth about your produce.)

Just stick to small-farm organic meats.

They're less likely to be covered in poo germs, since the facilities tend to be cleaner. And since organics involve zero antibiotics, any germs that end up on them are likely to be of the conventional variety instead of superbugs.

In any case, cooking will kill the germs. Just don't overcook; that will kill both taste and nutrition as well.