In 2013, there was an outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcusaureus (MRSA) at an NFL training facility. One player suffereda career-ending infection to his foot and sued the team owners for $20 million for unsanitary conditions that contributed to the bacterialinfection. A settlement with undisclosed terms was reached in2017. MRSA is highly contagious and is spread by direct skin contactor by airborne transmission and can result in amputation or death.In addition, MRSA is very difficult to treat because it is resistant tomany antibiotics. For example, b -lactam antibiotics, such as penicillin,function by binding to and inactivating bacterial penicillin-bindingproteins (PBPs), which synthesize the bacterial cell wall. However,MRSA expresses an alternative type of PBP, called PBP2a encodedby the mecA gene. b -lactam antibiotics only weakly bind PBP2a,and thus cell wall synthesis can continue in their presence. Moreover,in a system somewhat analogous to the regulation of the lacoperon, mecA is induced by the presence of b -lactam antibiotics andrepressed in their absence. This “on-demand” expression of mecA means that when the infection is treated with antibiotics, the cellsramp up their resistance. Question:What ethical responsibility do team owners have with respect topreventing the spread of pathogenic bacteria? What responsibilitiesmust players assume to prevent infecting other athletes?
In 2013, there was an outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcusaureus (MRSA) at an NFL training facility. One player suffereda career-ending infection to his foot and sued the team owners for $20 million for unsanitary conditions that contributed to the bacterialinfection. A settlement with undisclosed terms was reached in2017. MRSA is highly contagious and is spread by direct skin contactor by airborne transmission and can result in amputation or death.In addition, MRSA is very difficult to treat because it is resistant tomany antibiotics. For example, b -lactam antibiotics, such as penicillin,function by binding to and inactivating bacterial penicillin-bindingproteins (PBPs), which synthesize the bacterial cell wall. However,MRSA expresses an alternative type of PBP, called PBP2a encodedby the mecA gene. b -lactam antibiotics only weakly bind PBP2a,and thus cell wall synthesis can continue in their presence. Moreover,in a system somewhat analogous to the regulation of the lacoperon, mecA is induced by the presence of b -lactam antibiotics andrepressed in their absence. This “on-demand” expression of mecA means that when the infection is treated with antibiotics, the cellsramp up their resistance.
Question:What ethical responsibility do team owners have with respect to
preventing the spread of pathogenic bacteria? What responsibilities
must players assume to prevent infecting other athletes?
Trending now
This is a popular solution!
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps
