Superbugs are a deadly killer in hospitals. At least one superbug is itself killed at 140 degrees F.
The idea is to design sealed operating and post-operative rooms, so that the equipment can withstand an increase in temperature to 140 F, after every operation.
Contrariwise, some of these superbugs already exist in large numbers on the human body, as you walk about, scratching yourself. Reducing the temperature of frozen fish to -1 C can eliminate almost 70% of a notorious superbug. Since some medical procedures turn out better if the body is at a lower temperature anyway, the patient should be pre-frozen, strictly externally of course.
I am not a doctor, nor do I play one at home.-- 4and20, Feb 27 2017 Superbugs? Also your responsibility https://www.scienti...yourself-superbugs/2009, 1 year after the crisis [4and20, Feb 27 2017] WHO superbugs http://www.bbc.com/news/health-39104411It's like Lois Lane at the hospital [4and20, Feb 28 2017] Ball of fire https://beckteria.w...2013/02/06/archaea/Twice as bad as the ring of fire [4and20, Feb 28 2017] I'm not sure, but I doubt if infections commonly come from the OR (room, air or instruments). I may be wrong, though.
Also, chilling the patient's skin to -1°C will (a) not be at all good for the patient and (b) not be much use if it only kills 70% of the bacteria on the skin. If skin bacteria are an issue, there are any number of bactericides that will kill anything without harming the skin. They are already used around the surgical site, and could be extended as an all-body cleaner if contamination from remote skin sites were a problem.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 27 2017 Isn't this pretty fleshed out if not baked in many SciFi movies. i.e first someone hits the decontaminate button and they turn on the flamethrowers.-- MisterQED, Feb 27 2017 Pitting a single sick human against a bacterial colony in a physical environment survive-off isn't likely to end well for the human. Antibiotics are pretty easy to develop, in comparison to anti cancer agents for example. When I worked for a little bit at GSK they were shelving a whole load of antibiotic candidates, the market wasn't profitable at the time. I assume they're still on a shelf, as soon as enough rich people die of a specific super bug then one of them will be de-shelved, named something swanky and sold for a fortune.-- bs0u0155, Feb 27 2017 A topic still without good answers it seems. The superbug I was alluding to is the MRSA mentioned in the sciam article. I would like to believe that topical antiobiotics are adequate, or at least better than 30% failure rate. The mortality rates suggest otherwise. Am browsing for estimates on main sources of infection...-- 4and20, Feb 27 2017 //topical antiobiotics // If it's MRSA, then most antibiotics won't work. But in any case, if it's only for topical application, it doesn't need to be an antibiotic - it could be any broad-spectrum bug-killer.-- MaxwellBuchanan, Feb 27 2017 This flame thrower now seems like a good idea. Does it come in pink?
Thermococcus gammatolerans "This archaea is even more extreme in that it is also a thermophile with a preferred growth temperature of 88°C, hence its place in the Thermococcus genus (literal meaning: ‘ball of fire’)"-- 4and20, Feb 28 2017 Goodness gracious...-- bs0u0155, Feb 28 2017 The "ball of fire" flamethrower technique could be an option for those who consider Brazilian waxing to be too tedious. Goggles recommended.-- bungston, Feb 28 2017 I got allergic to my usual antibiotic, and ended up going topical with iodine cream...very old school..
NB, got some mild food poisoning and bought the local brand, the tablets look like rabbit droppings and one of the ingredients on the label is creosote so it has a ....unique flavour...-- not_morrison_rm, Feb 28 2017 //topical with iodine cream//
Well, if you're going to dye your skin yellow, why not throw in a little dinitrophenol? Give the little blighters an energetic problem... hell, some 2 deoxyglucose while you're at it, then they've got a problem and we've thrown a spanner in the works of the obvious solution. One of the non-cell permeable ATP synthase inhibitors while you're at it...
Damn, now I'm going to spend far too much time thinking up synergistic ways of screwing over bacteria.-- bs0u0155, Feb 28 2017 random, halfbakery