From a medical point of view, not all religious practices are always 100% risk free. See, for example, a recent Improbable article : ‘Official word: The body of Christ is not and cannot be gluten-free.’ But gluten intolerance is not the only area for concern – what about Holy Water in hospital chapels for example […]
Tag: infection
Handy microbe-hunters on the other side of the world
Anemona Hartocollis reports in the The New York Times: “At North Shore University Hospital [pictured below] on Long Island, motion sensors, like those used for burglar alarms, go off every time someone enters an intensive care room. The sensor triggers a video camera, which transmits its images halfway around the world to India, where workers are […]
Use Caution When Using Teeth to Castrate Lambs
Lamb castration is not always the idyllic pastime that some people may think it is. The Centers for Disease Control issued the following alert: “Notes from the Field: Campylobacter jejuni Infections Associated with Sheep Castration — Wyoming, 2011“, Clay Van Houten, MS, Karl Musgrave, DVM, Kelly Weidenbach, MPH, Tracy Murphy, MD, Wanda Manley, MS, Wyoming […]
Best’s Flushing Caution; Sandoe on Dog-Snogging
From Leeds comes news of how to literally keep down infectious material in hospitals: “Potential for aerosolization of Clostridium difficile after flushing toilets: the role of toilet lids in reducing environmental contamination risk,” E.L. Best, J.A. Sandoe and M.H. Wilcox, Journal of Hospital Infections, epub December 1, 2011. The authors, at Leeds General Infirmary and […]