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COST EFFECTIVENESS/YIELD/MEDICAL ECONOMICS
ASEPSIS IN A BARBER’S SHOP?
OP Kapoor
It is very irritating, when we send our patients to a particular hospital for an investigation, and the patient is refused an investigation if he has no HIV report. In fact, even if he has one, many hospitals compel them to repeat the same in their hospital, thus causing delay in the procedure besides financial loss. With the consumer courts flourishing, a time will soon come, when the patient will ask to know the HIV status of the doctor who is performing the procedure!
But, what about barbers? Can they not transmit HIV or Hepatitis viral infection because of their traditional dirty habits? How will they change their habits? All barbers should be advised the following precautions:-
1. Instruments like razors, clippers and scissors should be dipped in 10% formaldehyde solution after each use.2. Hands should be washed in running tap water after attending each customer. Remember that an HIV virus does not require a complicated sterilization and the above procedure is sufficient to get rid of the virus.
3. Brushes, combs and towels must be sterilised before use.
4. Use of ‘common’ (used for all customers) sponges and powder puffs should be discouraged.
5. If a customer has facial or scalp infection, special disinfection process should be carried out!
6. Finally, the whole shop should be washed with warm water at night, before closing the shop. It is safer to add soda bicarb powder to
the water.
And what about the poor barbers, who are exposed to the above mentioned infections? Even they should be supplied gloves by their proprietors to be used before attending to every customer as is done by doctors, pathology technicians and other paramedics!
RISK OF LIVER INJURY FROM NSAIDs IS SMALL
The risk of hepatotoxicity associated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, including nimesulide, is small. A five year retrospective cohort study by Traversa and colleagues looked at almost 2 million prescriptions in the Umbria region of Italy. It found no significant increase in isk when the incidence of hepatopathy among users of nimesulide was compared with other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. nimesulide has been withdrawn from use in Finland and Spain because of reported increases in liver injury.
BMJ, 2003; 327 : 18.
