Healthcare Triage: Doctors’ White Coats Can Host a Lot of Bacteria
For a lot of doctors and patients, the physician’s traditional white coat is a big part of a doctor’s identity, and contributes to their authority. Those white coats can also spread disease! It turns out, fabrics in doctors coats can be a breeding ground for bacteria, and they probably don’t get cleaned often enough.
http://www.medpagetoday.com/Pulmonology/Pneumonia/59807?xid=fb_o_
Musicians who play wind instruments are at risk for a potentially fatal inflammatory lung condition that is being called “bagpipe lung,” researchers suggested.
Writing in the journal Thorax, British researchers described the case of a 61-year-old bagpipe player who died of the interstitial lung disease hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP), which appeared to be caused by regularly breathing in mold and fungi which thrived in the moist interior of his musical instruments.
https://tpc.googlesyndication.com/safeframe/1-0-4/js/ext.js
HP is triggered by repeated exposure to airborne bacteria, fungi or molds found in the environment. More than 300 airborne substances have been shown to cause the disease.
Farmers, bird and poultry handlers, veterinary workers, and grain processors have all been previously identified as having an increased risk for the interstitial lung disease. There have also been isolated reports of musicians developing the disorder, including saxophone and trombone players, which resolved when players began routinely cleaning their instruments.
But the case is the first to link specific fungal contamination in a musical instrument to fatal HP.
HENRY KOTULA 