CANONSBURG, Pa. -- Almost 1 in every 4 Americans has a tattoo, according to a 2006 study conducted by the Journal of the AmericanAcademy of Dermatology(1). However, this common procedure poses the risk of serious disease transmission to both the artist and their customers. Possible infections as a result of inadequately sterilized reusable equipment range from Staphylococcus aureus, (including a ...
John Klear describes his recent laser treatments this way: “It’s like a really hot Exacto knife slicing through your skin.” Still, it’s worth it to him to have his tattoos removed. He got them when he was in the Navy, a rite of passage but also a lasting reminder of “the folly of youth,” he says. Later, after deciding he ...
Everyone knows that non-sterile tattoo needles can lead to AIDS and Hepatitis. However, according to research by Ronald Petruso, lecturer of chemistry at DelawareValleyCollege in Doylestown, Pa., there are other, overlooked risks.For the past year and a half, Petruso has been collaborating with Jani Ingram of NorthernArizonaUniversity in studying the toxicology of tattoo pigments. As television shows such as Miami ...
College undergraduates in the United States do not recognize the magnitude of their risk behaviors for contracting Hepatitis C, according to a survey conducted at a large Midwestern university. Researchers found that 75 percent of undergraduates in this study had a potential hepatitis C risk factor, from tattoos to sharing body jewelry. Results of this study were presented at the ...
Public health researchers in Rochester, N.Y., found that a 2003 outbreak of severe infections in people who had upper-ear piercings was caused by the combination of contaminated antiseptic solution and the greater risk of piercing ear cartilage, which has a poor blood supply. The study in the October issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine reports the findings from ...
Otitis media, more commonly known as an ear infection, is the most frequently diagnosed illness in children less than 15 years of age in the United States and is the primary cause for emergency room visits. More than 80 percent of children will experience at least one ear infection before ...
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are warning consumers not to eat any varieties of prepackaged Nestle Toll House refrigerated cookie dough due to the risk of contamination with E. coli O157:H7 (a bacterium that causes foodborne illness). The FDA advises ...
Vaccines are not just for children any more. That is the important and potentially life-saving message that Geisinger Health System pediatric gastroenterologist William Cochran, MD, vice chairman of the Janet Weis Children's Hospital, wants to deliver. And this is a message that comes from personal experience.“I am a physician, and ...
Swine flu reminded us how important washing our hands can be. Studies show that simple handwashing can decrease communicable gastrointestinal diseases by 50 percent and communicable respiratory diseases by 20 percent. Now, with schools at special risk for swine flu, a TelAvivUniversity researcher is bringing that message to educators and ...
The recent H1N1 influenza epidemic has raised many questions about how animal viruses move to human populations. One potential route is through veterinarians, who, according to a new report by University of Iowa College of Public Health researchers, are at markedly increased risk of infection with zoonotic pathogens -- the ...
Bacteria and viruses are the microscopic organisms – otherwise known as germs -- that are responsible for causing and transmitting illness and disease. These microbes are so small, that according to the American Society for Microbiology, if the smallest of all microbes was the size of a baseball, an average bacterium would then be the size of the pitcher's mound, and just one of the millions of cells that make up your body would be the size of the ballpark!
