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Letter to the Editor| Volume 75, ISSUE 2, P138-139, June 2010

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The necktie as a potential vector of infection: are doctors happy to do without?

Published:May 17, 2010DOI:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhin.2009.12.008
      A review of uniforms and workwear by the UK Department of Health recommended that it is poor practice to wear neckties (other than bowties) in any care activity that involves contact with patients, as they serve no beneficial function in patient care, are rarely laundered and have been shown to be colonised by pathogens.
      • Department of Health
      Uniforms and workwear.
      Coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) were found on two of five neckties of doctors working in an intensive care unit, and Staphylococcus aureus was isolated from eight of 40 doctors' ties in a Scottish hospital.
      • Dixon M.
      Neckties as vectors for nosocomial infection.
      • Ditchburn I.
      Should doctors wear ties?.
      A study from a London hospital showed that there were significantly higher bacterial counts on the ties of doctors compared to their shirt pockets; the authors found that ties were much less frequently laundered than shirts.
      • Lopez P.J.
      Bacterial counts from hospital doctors' ties are higher than those from shirts.
      Interestingly, despite the Department of Health recommendation excluding bow ties, a study comparing conventional ties and bow ties worn by obstetricians and gynaecologists found that there was no difference in levels of contamination of either type of tie by the third day that they were worn.
      • Biljan M.M.
      Multicentre randomised double bind crossover trial on contamination of conventional ties and bow ties in routine obstetric and gynaecological practice.
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      References

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        Uniforms and workwear.
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