Medical tourism brings with it the risk of a superbug spreading across the nation in an instant.
Quote of the Day ( 5 )
Prof Yasuyoshi Ike of Gunma University. Recent revelations of drug-resistant bacteria infections at Teikyo University Hospital and Dokkyo Medical University Hospital could be precursors of more superbug infections as medical tourism grows around the world, experts warn. (Daily Yomiuri)
Order by Time Order by Popularity
5 Comments
Login to comment
0
Gurukun
Okay, I give up. What is medical tourism?
0
Alphaape
I guess this is his attempt to say that it was foreigners who caused this outbreak.
Tourism in general and not just medical tourism is a major cause of diseases spreading more rapidly now than in the past. A person can be sick with the resistant form of TB and be in the Central Highlands in Vietnam, and then be in Narita 10 hours later, while in the past it would have taken days (and symptoms would have appeared by then).
But, I don't think many come to Japan for the medical tourism. If this country makes a big deal about the number of organ transplants performed, I doubt if many people are coming here for advanced surgeries.
0
kyoken
"[...] the growing popularity of medical tourism--including the growing number of people coming to Japan for medical checks and treatment--is one cause of the increasing frequency of superbug outbreaks. Some of the dozens of British people infected with the NDM-1 enzyme had undergone cosmetic surgery in India, where such operations are relatively cheap [...]"
(Original: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/T100907004913.htm)
0
Alphaape
kyoken,
I understand the phenomenon, but I have not really heard of people coming to Japan for medical treatment. I mean we hear of the shortages of hospital staff, and people dying in the back of ambulances since they couldn't find a hospital to take them to.
But it seems like they are just trying to put the blame on foreigners, which I think may be a cause but not the only cause.
0
kyoken
That the report states only one example, that of the British infected with NDM-1, supports your understanding.
Back to top