致命手機(jī)
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????世界衛(wèi)生組織（World Health Organization）在近期的報(bào)告中稱，手機(jī)“可能致癌”，引發(fā)了人們的熱議（當(dāng)然，也有些人極力回避這一問題）。“可能致癌”是WHO用于劃分醫(yī)療風(fēng)險(xiǎn)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(jī)。 ????醫(yī)院多年來(lái)一直針對(duì)手機(jī)采取特別的預(yù)防措施，禁止訪客與工作人員攜帶手機(jī)進(jìn)入門診區(qū)，以避免醫(yī)療設(shè)備和監(jiān)控設(shè)備受到干擾。但是，根據(jù)《美國(guó)感染控制雜志》（American Journal of Infection Control）六月刊發(fā)表的一份研究報(bào)告顯示，醫(yī)院并沒有意識(shí)到，他們鎖定了元兇，但卻搞錯(cuò)了真正的威脅所在。其實(shí)，手機(jī)給醫(yī)院帶來(lái)的最大風(fēng)險(xiǎn)在于遍布手機(jī)的細(xì)菌，其中一些細(xì)菌已經(jīng)對(duì)抗生素產(chǎn)生了抗藥性，而所有細(xì)菌都會(huì)傳播到患者和醫(yī)護(hù)人員身上。 ????更糟糕的是，研究顯示，患者手機(jī)攜帶到醫(yī)院的細(xì)菌數(shù)量是醫(yī)護(hù)人員手機(jī)的兩倍。主要原因可能是因?yàn)獒t(yī)護(hù)人員需要定期進(jìn)行感染控制處理。手機(jī)中發(fā)現(xiàn)的細(xì)菌正是導(dǎo)致醫(yī)源性感染的罪魁禍?zhǔn)?，其中美?guó)每年約有170萬(wàn)相關(guān)病例（導(dǎo)致約100,000人死亡）。 |
????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). |
????而且，患者到醫(yī)院可不僅僅會(huì)攜帶手機(jī)。他們的衣服、鞋子和錢包等都會(huì)攜帶各種各樣的微生物。天曉得，有的人甚至?xí)еХ缺结t(yī)院，這可真是雪上加霜，因?yàn)槊恳槐前涂耍⊿tarbucks）拿鐵咖啡都是“可能致癌”的。病原體還會(huì)隨著訪客的物品潛入到醫(yī)院。我簡(jiǎn)直不敢建議人們?nèi)パ芯窟@些病原體。想想看，訪客到醫(yī)院探訪病人，把自己的物品扔到床上，然后還會(huì)與病人熱情地接吻。簡(jiǎn)直令人作嘔。 ????至于手機(jī)致命論，如果WHO能將注意力轉(zhuǎn)移到更直接的手機(jī)病原體威脅上或許更有趣：也就是說每一位走進(jìn)醫(yī)院大門的患者、護(hù)士和醫(yī)師都會(huì)攜帶可能致命的細(xì)菌。不僅如此，基于手機(jī)的全新醫(yī)療技術(shù)正逐漸被醫(yī)院所采用，但是供應(yīng)商對(duì)感染風(fēng)險(xiǎn)的認(rèn)知并不一致。有些供應(yīng)商孜孜以求，以確保其設(shè)備在各病房之間能非常方便地進(jìn)行清理；而有些供應(yīng)商只求把手機(jī)應(yīng)用程序賣給醫(yī)院了事，根本不關(guān)心手機(jī)本身是否可以方便地進(jìn)行消毒，后果自然堪憂。 ????喬納森?薩米特博士是美國(guó)南加利福尼亞州大學(xué)（University of Southern California）內(nèi)科醫(yī)生及流行病學(xué)家，并在世界衛(wèi)生組織下屬的一個(gè)委員會(huì)擔(dān)任主席。正是該委員會(huì)將手機(jī)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(shí)間都在使用手機(jī)或者其他類似的產(chǎn)品。我們確實(shí)需要了解它們是否具有致癌風(fēng)險(xiǎn)，或是其他任何風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。” ????或許，所謂“其他風(fēng)險(xiǎn)”我們?cè)缫研闹敲鳌?/p>
????本文作者麗莎?蘇南是風(fēng)險(xiǎn)投資公司Psilos Group的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人兼管理層成員，該公司以醫(yī)療保健為核心業(yè)務(wù)，管理的資金超過5.77億美元。 ????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.
