致命手机
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世界卫生组织（World Health Organization）在近期的报告中称，手机“可能致癌”，引发了人们的热议（当然，也有些人极力回避这一问题）。“可能致癌”是WHO用于划分医疗风险的特定类别，夜班工作、汽车尾气和咖啡同属此类。如果真是这样的话，我宁愿死于咖啡，而不是手机。 医院多年来一直针对手机采取特别的预防措施，禁止访客与工作人员携带手机进入门诊区，以避免医疗设备和监控设备受到干扰。但是，根据《美国感染控制杂志》（American Journal of Infection Control）六月刊发表的一份研究报告显示，医院并没有意识到，他们锁定了元凶，但却搞错了真正的威胁所在。其实，手机给医院带来的最大风险在于遍布手机的细菌，其中一些细菌已经对抗生素产生了抗药性，而所有细菌都会传播到患者和医护人员身上。 更糟糕的是，研究显示，患者手机携带到医院的细菌数量是医护人员手机的两倍。主要原因可能是因为医护人员需要定期进行感染控制处理。手机中发现的细菌正是导致医源性感染的罪魁祸首，其中美国每年约有170万相关病例（导致约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，患者到医院可不仅仅会携带手机。他们的衣服、鞋子和钱包等都会携带各种各样的微生物。天晓得，有的人甚至会带着咖啡杯到医院，这可真是雪上加霜，因为每一杯星巴克（Starbucks）拿铁咖啡都是“可能致癌”的。病原体还会随着访客的物品潜入到医院。我简直不敢建议人们去研究这些病原体。想想看，访客到医院探访病人，把自己的物品扔到床上，然后还会与病人热情地接吻。简直令人作呕。 至于手机致命论，如果WHO能将注意力转移到更直接的手机病原体威胁上或许更有趣：也就是说每一位走进医院大门的患者、护士和医师都会携带可能致命的细菌。不仅如此，基于手机的全新医疗技术正逐渐被医院所采用，但是供应商对感染风险的认知并不一致。有些供应商孜孜以求，以确保其设备在各病房之间能非常方便地进行清理；而有些供应商只求把手机应用程序卖给医院了事，根本不关心手机本身是否可以方便地进行消毒，后果自然堪忧。 乔纳森•萨米特博士是美国南加利福尼亚州大学（University of Southern California）内科医生及流行病学家，并在世界卫生组织下属的一个委员会担任主席。正是该委员会将手机划入“可能致癌”类别。近期他曾表示：“如今，我们的孩子可能一生大部分时间都在使用手机或者其他类似的产品。我们确实需要了解它们是否具有致癌风险，或是其他任何风险。” 或许，所谓“其他风险”我们早已心知肚明。 本文作者丽莎•苏南是风险投资公司Psilos Group的联合创始人兼管理层成员，该公司以医疗保健为核心业务，管理的资金超过5.77亿美元。 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.
