Courtesy of WebMD:

It appears that more people in the U.S. now die from the mostly hospital-acquired staph infection MRSA than from AIDS, according to a new report from the CDC.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) was responsible for an estimated 94,000 life-threatening infections and 18,650 deaths in 2005, CDC researchers report in the Oct. 17 issue of The Journal of the American Medical Association.

That same year, roughly 16,000 people in the U.S. died from AIDS, according to CDC figures.

I have long maintained that going to your Doctors Office was one of the most dangerous things you could do for your health.  There you are, stuck in a waiting room for HOURS (subjectively, anyway), with a bunch of coughing, wheezing, mucus dripping fellow patients.  You'd be better off in a room full of Zombies.  At least none of them have the Flu.

Now, to add to the death-defying leap of faith that medical worker might actually be able to help you (why DO they call it 'practicing medicine', anyway? Shouldn't they know what they are doing by the time they get to you?), you have a chance of picking up the MRSA bug.  And you didn't even have the fun of risky unprotected sex, or sharing a dirty needle.  And MRSA kills a LOT faster than AIDS, in days, not years.

And the main source of MRSA in Hospitals?

Why, the Medical Workers themselves:

"Hand washing is one of the most important ways to decrease the spread of MRSA in hospitals, but hand washing compliance rates [among health care professionals] are rarely 100%," she says. "One thing a patient can do to reduce their risk is make sure everyone they come into contact with washes their hands or uses an alcohol hand rub."

So, hear me now, and believe me later:  Before a Doctor, Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, Candy-Striper, or ANY OTHER Medical Worker touches you, make sure they have washed/sanitized their hands first!

And try not to think about where that Thermometer was before is was under your tongue.  Disposable plastic sleeve or no…