AroundtheGlobe WORLD NEWS
HOW SAFE IS YOUR RUBBER DUCK? Children and others who play with bath toys could be at risk of eye, ear and gastrointestinal infections.
NG I N R A W
This is the view of researchers from EAWAG – the Swiss Federal Institute of Aquatic Science and Technology in ETH Zurich university – and the University of Illinois, who have been studying “microbial growth and the types of microorganisms” in new and used bath toys, in clean and dirty bath water. “Between 5 million and 75 million cells per square centimetre were observed on the inner surfaces (and) fungal species were detected in almost 60 per cent of the real bath toys and in all the dirty-water control toys,” said an EAWAG communique last month.
3D PRINTED STETHOSCOPE A 3D printed stethoscope has been developed that can be assembled quickly and cheaply from recycled plastic in places with scarce access to medical supplies. “As far as we know this is the first open-source medical device that has been clinically validated and is widely available,” said the designer, Dr. Tarek Loubani, an associate professor at Western University in Ontario, Canada.
“Potentially pathogenic bacteria were identified in 80 per cent of all the toys studied, including Legionella and Pseudomonas aeruginosa, the rod-shaped bacterium often implicated in hospital-acquired infections.” The scientists found the toys, rather than typically low-nutrient tap water, promote microbial growth, because “the plastic materials – often low-quality polymers – release substantial amounts of organic carbon compounds”. EAWAG Department of Environmental Microbiology Group Leader Dr Frederik Hammes said “mouldy bath toys … have received little scientific attention to date”, despite being “the junction between potable water, plastic materials, external contamination and vulnerable end-users”. Dr Hammes said when children squirt water from bath toys into their faces “this could strengthen the immune system … but it can also result in eye, ear, or even gastrointestinal infections”. Rather than banning such toys, he proposed tighter regulations on polymeric materials used in their manufacture.
Dr Loubani, an emergency room physician who worked in hospitals in Gaza in the Palestinian territories during war, said: “We wanted physicians and allied health care professionals to be able to have something that was high quality. This study found that the acoustic quality was the same in our stethoscope as in a premium brand stethoscope.” Western University said the stethoscope, which has created hope for more 3D medical devices, can be made in under three hours and costs less than $3 to produce. “Anyone with a 3D printer and access to ABS – a plastic used to make garden chairs and Lego – can create the device,” the university said. Free open source software was used to keep costs low and allow others to easily access the code. The device is being used in Gaza, and is also being trialled clinically at the London Health Sciences Centre in Ontario. The results of the study were published last month in the journal PLOS ONE.
BEDSIDE CHART EASES PAIN OF CANCER PATIENTS
But, “importantly”, using the chart was not linked to higher drug doses.
Cancer patients find their pain is managed better with a simple pen and paper chart next to their bed, Scottish research shows.
But they cautioned more studies are needed to understand how the system could work longer term. The study was published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
During a study of 1921 patients, medical staff used such a chart to “regularly record pain levels in a simple traffic light system”, under the Edinburgh Pain Assessment and management Tool (EPAT). If amber or red pain levels were recorded – indicating moderate or severe pain – this prompted doctors “to review medications and side effects, and monitor pain more closely”, said University of Edinburgh researchers, who developed the EPAT with doctors. The researchers said last month that “patients whose care included use of the chart reported less pain during this time, compared with patients with standard care, who did not show an improvement”.
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western nurse March–April 2018
The study authors said the system works by encouraging doctors to ask the correct questions so they can act “before patients reach a crisis point”.