????世界衛生組織（World Health Organization）在近期的報告中稱，手機“可能致癌”，引發了人們的熱議（當然，也有些人極力回避這一問題）。“可能致癌”是WHO用于劃分醫療風險的特定類別，夜班工作、汽車尾氣和咖啡同屬此類。如果真是這樣的話，我寧愿死于咖啡，而不是手機。
????醫院多年來一直針對手機采取特別的預防措施，禁止訪客與工作人員攜帶手機進入門診區，以避免醫療設備和監控設備受到干擾。但是，根據《美國感染控制雜志》（American Journal of Infection Control）六月刊發表的一份研究報告顯示，醫院并沒有意識到，他們鎖定了元兇，但卻搞錯了真正的威脅所在。其實，手機給醫院帶來的最大風險在于遍布手機的細菌，其中一些細菌已經對抗生素產生了抗藥性，而所有細菌都會傳播到患者和醫護人員身上。
????更糟糕的是，研究顯示，患者手機攜帶到醫院的細菌數量是醫護人員手機的兩倍。主要原因可能是因為醫護人員需要定期進行感染控制處理。手機中發現的細菌正是導致醫源性感染的罪魁禍首，其中美國每年約有170萬相關病例（導致約100,000人死亡）。 |
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????Many people are talking about (or actively trying to ignore) the World Health Organization's recent declaration that cell phones are "possibly carcinogenic" and might cause cancer. "Possibly carcinogenic" is a specific category that WHO uses to characterize medical risk, and also has been attached to night-shift work, engine exhaust and coffee. Guess we know what that means; I'll die from coffee before the cell phone gets me.
????Meanwhile, hospital leaders have for years taken extra precautions with cell phones, barring visitors and staff from carrying them into patient areas for fear that they might interfere with medical equipment and monitors. What they didn't realize was that they had the right villain but the wrong crime, according to a study in the June issue of the American Journal of Infection Control. Turns out the real risk cell phones present at hospitals is that they are chock full of bacteria, some of which are resistant to antibiotics, and all of which are out to get patients and caregivers.
????Even worse, the study suggests, patient cell phones carry twice as much gunk into the hospital as hospital staff cell phones, probably because the staff undertake infection control measures regularly. The creatures found on these devices are the very ones that lead to hospital-acquired infections, of which in the U.S. there are 1.7 million annually (causing an estimated 100,000 deaths). |
手機???????????????????????????????????????馬桶坐墊????????????????????????????????????? 鍵盤
????而且，患者到醫院可不僅僅會攜帶手機。他們的衣服、鞋子和錢包等都會攜帶各種各樣的微生物。天曉得，有的人甚至會帶著咖啡杯到醫院，這可真是雪上加霜，因為每一杯星巴克（Starbucks）拿鐵咖啡都是“可能致癌”的。病原體還會隨著訪客的物品潛入到醫院。我簡直不敢建議人們去研究這些病原體。想想看，訪客到醫院探訪病人，把自己的物品扔到床上，然后還會與病人熱情地接吻。簡直令人作嘔。
????至于手機致命論，如果WHO能將注意力轉移到更直接的手機病原體威脅上或許更有趣：也就是說每一位走進醫院大門的患者、護士和醫師都會攜帶可能致命的細菌。不僅如此，基于手機的全新醫療技術正逐漸被醫院所采用，但是供應商對感染風險的認知并不一致。有些供應商孜孜以求，以確保其設備在各病房之間能非常方便地進行清理；而有些供應商只求把手機應用程序賣給醫院了事，根本不關心手機本身是否可以方便地進行消毒，后果自然堪憂。
????喬納森?薩米特博士是美國南加利福尼亞州大學（University of Southern California）內科醫生及流行病學家，并在世界衛生組織下屬的一個委員會擔任主席。正是該委員會將手機劃入“可能致癌”類別。近期他曾表示：“如今，我們的孩子可能一生大部分時間都在使用手機或者其他類似的產品。我們確實需要了解它們是否具有致癌風險，或是其他任何風險。”
????或許，所謂“其他風險”我們早已心知肚明。
????本文作者麗莎?蘇南是風險投資公司Psilos Group的聯合創始人兼管理層成員，該公司以醫療保健為核心業務，管理的資金超過5.77億美元。 |
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????And by the way, patients show up at hospitals with far more than their cell phones. They carry in all manner of organisms on their clothes, shoes and purses, among other things. God knows they may even show up with coffee cups, which could be the double whammy given the "potentially carcinogenic" risk of every Starbucks Latte on earth. I'm almost afraid to suggest that someone study the pathogens that trail into the hospital on the stuff belonging to people who visit patients, drop their stuff on the bed and give them a nice juicy kiss. Nasty.
????But as to the "deadly" cell phone controversy, it would be interesting to turn WHO's attention to what might be the more immediate cell phone risk: The fact that every patient, nurse, and physician who walks through the hospital door is carrying a potentially lethal set of germs. Not only that, but a whole new generation of cell phone-based medical technology is coming to hospitals and not every vendor is thinking about the infection risk equally. Some are committed to ensuring that their devices can be readily cleaned between patient rooms while others are just selling cell phone apps into hospitals without concern for whether the handsets themselves can be readily disinfected, consequences be damned.
????Dr. Jonathan Samet, a University of Southern California physician and epidemiologist and chairman of the World Health Organization committee that deemed cellphones as "potentially carcinogenic" was quoted recently as saying: "We've hit the point where today's children are going to use a cellphone or something like a cellphone for most of their lives. We do need to understand if there is a risk of cancer or anything else."
????It is possible that the "anything else" might already be known.
????Lisa Suennen is a co-founder and Managing Member of Psilos Group, a healthcare-focused venture capital firm with over $577 million under management. |
