Woman with superbug faces losing her leg
<p>A 75-year-old Australian could face losing her leg due to a superbug she contracted in Zambia last year.</p>
<p>Sandra Hocking was helping orphans in Zambia when she fell into a hole and cut open her ankle.</p>
<p>She returned to Australia with a gaping wound that was not healing.</p>
<p>In April, doctors told Sandra that she had contracted a deadly antibiotic-resistant superbug and there was no medication to treat it.</p>
<p>Doctors believe Sandra’s situation is one of the worst superbug infections ever seen in Australia and she now faces the prospect of having her leg amputated.</p>
<p>"It's a total bastard of an organism in that it's one of the most resistant," Sandra’ s doctor, Lindsay Grayson, told the Sydney Morning Herald.</p>
<p>"It's one of the worst cases I've seen."</p>
<p style="text-align: center;"><img width="300" height="455" src="https://oversixtydev.blob.core.windows.net/media/38789/in-text-superbug.jpg" alt="In Text Superbug"/></p>
<p>Two years ago, the superbug, called pseudomonas, was treated with antibiotics but it has since become resistant to them all.</p>
<p>"The pus coming out of her leg was loaded with this superbug. We only needed the slightest error by staff and it could spread to equipment and other patients," Professor Grayson said.</p>
<p>In isolation at Austin hospital, Sandra was treated with two old antibiotics, one which was phased out due to causing kidney failure in high doses.</p>
<p>Sandra was faced with the horrific choice of taking the drugs or losing her legs.</p>
<p>"I'd heard of superbugs ... but the fact that I got it ... I was devastated. I cried and I cried," Sandra said.</p>
<p>An expert team of doctors from Austin hospital and Melbourne and Monash universities administered the drugs using an intravenous drip.</p>
<p>Sandra has also had multiple surgeries and the doctors grafted her skin from her arm onto her ankle to increase blood flow to the area.</p>
<p>"This is her last chance," Professor Grayson said. "If this fails, she'll lose her leg. She has a very anxious wait."</p>
<p>Professor Grayson believes Australia is facing a superbug crisis as patients are coming into Australian hospitals once a week with superbug infections.</p>
<p>"We need people to understand that if we continue to recklessly misuse and overuse antibiotics, as we have for the past 50-70 years, doctors will be faced with the choice to amputate infected limbs or risk their patients' lives," Professor Grayson said.</p>
<p>Professor Grayson called for a coordinated national authority in infection control, enforced mandatory reporting and more research. </p>
<p><em>Image credit: Wayne Taylor </em></p>
