Convenience versus peril

New Haven (WTNH) - Dr. David Katz joined us again on Good Morning Connecticut Weekend to talk about "convenient peril"- why so many Americans are sacrificing safety for convenience.

Dr. Katz provided us with some insight on how to deal with the trade-off between peril and convenience.

"Convenient perils" are threats that we can only fix by giving up conveniences, such as driving while talking or texting on cell phones. The nonprofit National Safety Council compares talking or texting while driving to drunken driving.

A study by the Harvard Center of Risk Analysis found that cell phone use contributes to 6 percent of all crashes. That represents 636,000 crashes, 12,000 serious injuries and 2,600 deaths each year, plus a financial cost of $43 billion.

Another example of a convenient peril is the danger of dirty scrubs and labcoats worn by hospital personnel. More information about this shocking finding is below.

The following information was provided by Dr. Katz:

You see them everywhere -- nurses, doctors and medical technicians in scrubs or lab coats. They shop in them, take buses and trains in them, go to restaurants in them, and wear them home. What you can't see on these garments are the bacteria that could kill you.

Dirty scrubs spread bacteria to patients in the hospital and allow hospital superbugs to escape into public places such as restaurants. Some hospitals now prohibit wearing scrubs outside the building, partly in response to the rapid increase in an infection called "C. diff." A national hospital survey released last November warns that Clostridium difficile (C. diff) infections are sickening nearly half a million people a year in the U.S., more than six times previous estimates.

The problem is that some medical personnel wear the same unlaundered uniforms to work day after day. They start their shift already carrying germs such as C.diff, drug-resistant enterococcus or staphylococcus. Doctors' lab coats are probably the dirtiest. At the University of Maryland, 65% of medical personnel confess they change their lab coat less than once a week, though they know it's contaminated. Fifteen percent admit they change it less than once a month. Superbugs such as staph can live on these polyester coats for up to 56 days.

Do unclean uniforms endanger patients? Absolutely. Health-care workers habitually touch their own uniforms. Studies confirm that the more bacteria found on surfaces touched often by doctors and nurses, the higher the risk that these bacteria will be carried to the patient and cause infection.

For more information, and to read Dr. Katz's column, visit his website at www.davidkatzmd.com.