The "hospital superbug": Social representations of MRSA
The "hospital superbug": Social representations of MRSA
复制标题
DOI：
10.1016/j.socscimed.2006.05.018
复制
发表时间：
2006-10-01
影响因子：
5.4
通讯作者：
Joffe, Helene
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Washer, Peter;Joffe, Helene
从20世纪90年代中期开始，所谓的“医院超级细菌”耐甲氧西林金黄色葡萄球菌（MRSA）成为英国媒体和政治关注的话题。在2005年英国大选之前，它越来越政治化。这项研究通过分析1995-2005年10年期间报纸对该疾病的报道来研究在英国传播的MRSA的含义。它利用社会表征理论，并将MRSA与现有的新兴传染病（EID）表征研究相结合。EID代表的一个关键模式是通过将起源，风险和责任与代表他们的“其他人”联系起来，将他们构成的威胁外部化。正是在这种情况下，这项研究调查了MRSA与谁和什么有关，以及这些协会对警报和指责水平的影响。关键的发现是，MRSA被认为是一种潜在的致命“超级细菌”，标志着“医学黄金时代”的结束，在这个时代中，抗生素的发现发挥了如此关键的作用。此外，MRSA是围绕着一个“它可能是你/我”的假设集的方式过多的人类利益的故事，占主导地位的报道。最后，对MRSA的指责不是集中在它的起源上，而是集中在它为什么会传播上。这是由于医院卫生条件差造成的，而卫生条件差最终是由于国家卫生服务管理不善以及“护士长”角色所象征的权威和道德受到侵蚀造成的。与许多过去的EID相比，这种意义的集合告知了对MRSA的反应模式有所不同。(c)2006爱思唯尔有限公司保留所有权利。
The so-called 'hospital superbug' methcillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) became a topic of media and political concern in Britain from the middle of the 1990s. It was increasingly politicised in the period leading up to the British General Election of 2005. This study examines the meanings of MRSA that circulate in Britain by analysing newspaper coverage of the disease over the 10-year period 1995-2005. It utilises social representations theory and contextualises MRSA within existing research on representations of emerging infectious diseases (EIDs). A key pattern in the representation of EIDs is to externalise the threat they pose by linking the origin, risk and blame to 'the other' of those who represent them. It is in this light that this study investigates who and what MRSA is associated with and the impact that these associations have on levels of alarm and blame. Key findings are that MRSA is represented as a potentially lethal 'superbug', marking the end of a 'golden age of medicine' in which the story of the discovery of antibiotics has played such a key role. Furthermore, MRSA is constructed around an "it could be you/me" set of assumptions by way of the plethora of human interest stories that dominate the coverage. Finally, the blame for MRSA focuses not on its genesis, but rather on why it spreads. This is attributed to poor hygiene in hospitals, which is ultimately caused by mismanagement of the National Health Service and erosion of the authority and morality symbolised by the 'matron' role. This constellation of meanings informs a somewhat different pattern of response to MRSA when compared to many past EIDs. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.