Physician, remove thy germ-infested necktie

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http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040525/NECK

TIES25/TPHealth/

.... Nearly half of the neckties worn by medical personnel are contaminated

with bacteria, ...

.... The study found that 20 of the 42 clinicians' ties harboured pathogens

such as Alcaligenes faecalis (non-pathogenic bacteria) or Klebsiella

pneumoniae (which can lead to life-threatening pneumonia and other

maladies).

The most common bacteria, found on one-third of the neckties worn by

clinicians, was Staphylococcus aureus, a germ that can cause food-poisoning,

even toxic shock.

Only one of the 10 ties worn by the security guards was contaminated...

.... Dentists, whose job involves leaning closely over patients, typically

wear close-necked medical coats so that nothing flaps down ...

.... Luckily, none of the strains the New York researchers spotted on

neckties were of the super strains that resist multidrug treatments.