The Bhutanese Leading the way.
Opinion By Dr Pem Namgyal
We know that Bhutanese love their near and dear ones, especially when they are ill and in the hospital. They come in droves, bearing baskets of goodies and all sorts of cooked food to have a picnic in the hospital. But that very love could kill you!
There is something called MDRO, a multidrug-resistant organism. These organisms cannot be eliminated by most commonly available antibiotics, and some of them cannot be destroyed with any antibiotic available today. And, worse, we have to admit those people coughing out tuberculosis bacteria as sputum positive patients have to be admitted into the isolation wards, which are actually adjacent to other common wards and not truly isolated spaces.
The funny thing is that even if we had a proper isolation ward, for the average Bhutanese ‘isolation’ means nothing as is evidenced by the constant arguments, and even abuse of our security guards, nurses and doctors who try to prevent them from entering such spaces or mixing with people who harbour these deadly organisms.
Let me tell you this; there is this deadly bug called pseudomonas. If it kisses you, usually it is goodbye. So please don’t come to the hospital. Please don’t come, especially if you are on immunosuppressant drugs for cancers or autoimmune diseases, if you are too old or too young, avoid coming to the hospital, especially into the wards! Why expose yourself to risks that can easily be avoided? Stay safe, stay healthy.
