Are doctors' neckties a health hazard?

Sometimes it can be hard to read the scientific literature without peering through the lens of one's own prejudices. That said, I must agree with this:

Malaysian doctors have declared neckties a health hazard and called on the heath ministry to stop insisting that physicians wear them.

Citing studies that show ties are unhygienic and can spread infection, the Malaysian Medical Association says they are not often washed and carry germs that can cause pneumonia and blood infections, the Star newspaper said on Tuesday.

"And when doctors are doing their clinical rounds, they dangle all over the place," the paper quoted association president Dr Teoh Siang Chin as saying.

But the Star quoted a ministry official as saying it needed more proof that neckties were a danger before it relaxed the dress code for doctors in hospitals. (Reuters)

I hope Reuters will forgive me for scarfing up their piece in toto. I don't usually do that, bu I didn't know where to cut it. Except maybe high up, near the collar.

In the interests of full disclosure, I routinely don't wear a tie, mostly on the grounds a tie serves no purpose. I only wear one when the occasion calls for it as a sign of respect. I have observed that my pediatrician colleagues frequently wear bowties. I always assumed this was to prevent a necktie swinging, unbidden, into the infant's crotch during exams. Or maybe some pediatricians are just nerdy, how knows?

The Malaysian health ministry wants proof a necktie is a hygiene hazard? How about proof a dress code that requires a necktie improves medical care? If that's not the reason, then what is? Just asking.

Categories

More like this

...They make be spreading disease. British hospitals are working on keeping that in check by implementing a new dress code: British hospitals are banning neckties, long sleeves and jewelry for doctors -- and their traditional white coats -- in an effort to stop the spread of deadly hospital-borne…
This is the smartest thing anyone has ever done: Hospital dress codes typically urge doctors to look professional, which, for male practitioners, has usually meant wearing a tie. But as concern over hospital-borne infections has intensified, doctors are taking a closer look at their clothing. "Ties…
Two stories published in the New York Times today underscore the importance of handwashing in preventing infection. First, from a public hospital in New York: Timeouts to wash hands and put on hairnets, a simple checklist to ensure that such seemingly obvious precautions are done, and advertising…
I had to laugh when I saw FDA was warning consumers in Puerto Rico that some hand sanitizers had high levels of bacteria (Burkholderia cepacia) that can cause serious infections. It's not really funny of course, except that one of the hand sanitizers was called “MD Quality Hand Sanitizer” (the…

More proof? I thought somewhere (UK?) had tested ties for germs, quite a while back; this isn't a new idea.

And what happened to common-sense? Ties do get touched or touch all sorts of things, and, are with the doctor (and each patient) all day -ugh.

By crfullmoon (not verified) on 03 May 2007 #permalink

About those bow ties and pediatricians: Revere, don't you remember when your own babies perfected their grasp? You didn't want to get too close to those little hands if you wore glasses or sported long locks.

A quick, two-fisted grab for the doctor's swinging tie, an equally fast trip of that tie to the baby's mouth.... Could wreck the good doctor's concentration on the finer points of his exam in a flash. Not to mention giving his patient a hit of that dried-on lasagna he had for lunch.

I wonder if Brooks Brothers will come up with some FUD to try and kill this study and protect their products. Maybe they can hire the Weinberg Group to help?

Seriously though, this is old news. This study pops up every couple of years because it's just too cute for a journalist to pass up.

That was my thought too, RPM.

Im on a medical school/hospital campus, and I do NOT understand why it is acceptable for med students/docs to wear their lab coats outside of a hospital. I see em talking on their cell phones in caps and booties. Coming to seminars with face masks up on their heads like bandannas. wtf.

Wasn't there a study done, about the time of Dr Lister's practice, that dress coats on surgeons and dangling just-in-time sutures contribute to loss in child-birth?

In my experience, neckties are never "washed;" if cleaned at all they are dry cleaned. A modest project of interest would be evaluating the effectiveness of dry cleaning in killing bacteria and virions.

By Frank Mirer (not verified) on 04 May 2007 #permalink

revere:

I have observed that my pediatrician colleagues frequently wear bowties. I always assumed this was to prevent a necktie swinging, unbidden, into the infant's crotch during exams. Or maybe some pediatricians are just nerdy, how knows?

No, it's called self-preservation. Unless you are into strangulation.