A Silver Bullet for Bumblefoot's "bed sore."

The time has passed for Bumblefoot to avoid his bed-sore-like case of bumblefoot - by having instituted a regular regimen of swimming, and catching and eating his own food.  Like humans with bed sores, it may simply be too late to get regular exercise and eat right.  His foot hurts, and to make matters worse, Bumblefoot, like many bed and wheel chair bound human sufferers, is depressed.

The "normal" bacteria living on his skin have discovered in his open wound a rich feeding ground and are voraciously feeding and lustily breeding.  As in humans, open sores universally and unavoidably become contaminated - every one of them, in everyone eventually, and in Bumblefoot in particular.  There is just no avoiding contamination by the opportunistic bacteria that live on his and our skin when given access to a succulent feast.  Left unchecked in bed sores and in penguin pododermatitis, bacteria can be expected to be so successful as to interfere with a body's natural healing mechanisms.  Left untreated or unresponsive to treatment, pressure ulcers kill - and badly.  Most know that Christopher Reeve fell off his horse, paralyzing him .  Few know however, that the coma from which he never awakened was caused either directly by the systemic sepsis that began in his infected decubitus ulcer or by the medicine administered to treat it.   

Unlike other "Never Events,"  like removing the wrong limb, or discharging a newborn to the wrong mother, or transfusing the wrong blood type, or losing a demented patient, pressure ulcers are not always cases of neglect or heinous error by care givers.   Sometimes, no matter what protocols are employed, bad things happen.  Bumblefoot will be treated with wide spectrum range antibiotics.  Those medicines may be expensive or worse.  They could prove toxic to him.  To Granny too.

The care-giver's infection control strategies will include prioritized cleaning routines and diverse debridement methods - all designed to keep the bacteria count down.  No one method will guarantee a successful outcome.  But the closer the antibiotic is to a precise indication for the offending bacteria, the more likely it is that Bumblefoot will survive his never event.

Bacteria deposited on brass doorknobs are all likely killed in less than eight hours, a nifty by-product for the occupants of old Victorian homes.  Microscopic bugs just do not like heavy metals.  The good news for Bumblefoot and for humans with bed sores is that bacteria, most anyhow, like silver even less.  For Bumblefoot, the next step is an hydropolymer dressing  with ionic silver - all neatly encapsulated in a cute neoprene bootie.  Expect a similar plan if Granny has an open bed sore.