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SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 22, 2009
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NEWS ABOUT: hygiene

hygiene stories: 15 news summaries

 Elmo Takes On Swine Flu 

Feds, Sesame Street produce spots on hygiene

Sep 1, 09 3:05 PM CDT
(Newser) - The fuzzy residents of Sesame Street are teaming up with the federal government to school kids on the dangers of swine flu and how to prevent it, the Washington Post reports. Elmo and human pal Gordon have taped PSAs that instruct children to be sure to wash their hands... More »

MORE ABOUT:
television • Health and Human Services • hygiene • advertisements • Kathleen Sebelius • PSA • Sesame Street • swine flu • H1N1 virus • Elmo • Gordon

(Newser) - Mortified visitors can't believe it when continental pools insist that men wear tiny, tight Speedo swimsuits, writes Angelique Chrisafis in the Guardian. An Irish journalist was recently hauled out of a French pool and could only return in an "unbelievably skimpy" pair of Speedo trunks that were "bloody... More »

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France • hygiene • swimming • Paris • swimming pool • Speedo • swimming trunks

(AP) - Wash your hands, folks, especially you ladies. A new study found that women have a greater variety of bacteria on their hands than men do. And everybody has more types of bacteria than the researchers expected to find. "One thing that really is astonishing is the variability between individuals,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • hygiene • bacteria

 Burger King Bather in Hot Water 

Public health uproar ensues after prank video goes online

Aug 12, 08 5:03 PM CDT
(Newser) - Diners in Ohio are feeling queasy after an internet video surfaced yesterday showing a young man taking a bath in a local Burger King’s sink. In the video, employees and a store manager watch a heavily tattooed “Mr. Unstable” relax in a bubble bath. Burger King reps tell... More »

MORE ABOUT:
hygiene • Ohio • public health • fast food • restaurant • bathroom • health code • Burger King

 Casino Ejects Man Over B.O.

Smelly man wants an apology

Jul 31, 08 4:06 PM CDT
(Newser) - A gambler deemed too smelly to play is demanding an apology from New Jersey’s Borgata casino, Fox Philadelphia reports. Michael Wax, 54, had spent 17 hours gambling in the casino when an official approached him and said he had to leave because other patrons were complaining of his body... More »

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hygiene • gambling • casino • smell • body odor

 Docs Link
 Ulcer Drop,
 Asthma  Boom 

Decline in stomach bacteria might link to asthma boom

Jul 15, 08 4:55 PM CDT
(Newser) - A lack of ulcers may be driving the increased incidence of childhood asthma, Reuters reports. In a study of children infected with the H. pylori bacteria, which causes ulcers, those who had the infection were 59% less likely to have asthma than those who didn't. H. pylori infection has been... More »

MORE ABOUT:
disease • hygiene • bacteria • asthma • childhood • ulcer • Helicobacter pylori

Graphic Bod Novel Jars Germany

Female author delves way deep into sex
and femininity

Jun 6, 08 4:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - A highly explicit novel that explores every body crevice of its teenage female narrator has scandalized Germany—and topped bestseller lists, the New York Times reports. The controversial novel, which mixes the anatomical and scatological with the erotic, is a feminist statement challenging a world that expects women to be... More »

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feminism • Germany • hygiene • sexuality • author • German • writer

New Superbug Highlights Poor Hospital Hygiene

Deadly C. diff., aided by over-prescription of antibiotics, is on the rise

May 2, 08 5:25 PM CDT
(Newser) - A deadly new superbug—beefed up by the over-prescription of antibiotics and spread by dirty hospitals and nursing homes—is raising concern in the medical community, MSNBC reports. The so-called C. diff is a mutated form of a benign bug typically transmitted in unsanitary medical facilities, especially bathrooms. Cases are... More »

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hospitals • hygiene • staph infections • superbug • antibiotics • infection • drug resistant • Clostridium difficile

 Keyboards 
 'Dirtier Than
 Toilet Seats' 

Microbiologist warns that filthy keys can make people ill

May 1, 08 7:01 AM CDT
(Newser) - A microbiologist studying computer keyboards discovered that some of them harbored more bacteria than the average toilet seat, the Guardian reports. The dirtiest—which had to be removed from an office—had 150 times the level of acceptable bacteria, putting the user at risk of catching bugs that cause diarrhea... More »

MORE ABOUT:
E. coli • hygiene • bacteria • cleaning • dirt • computer • computer hardware

Hospital-Bred Bacteria Kills Brits

Pseudomona are resistant to cleaning products and antibiotics

Nov 18, 07 4:34 PM CST
(Newser) - An untreatable strand of hospital-bred bacteria is killing hundreds of patients each year in the UK, the Observer reports. Pseudomona cases have risen 41% over the past five years, reaching 3,663 in 2006. Like MRSA, the bug is resistant to traditional cleaning agents and antibiotics, and contaminates patients through... More »

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hospitals • hygiene • bacteria • infection • MRSA

Americans Neglect to Wash Their Hands

Only 77% soap up in public restrooms; Ewwwwww, say experts

Sep 17, 07 5:22 PM CDT
(Newser) - Americans are forgetting to wash their hands. A new study shows that only 77% of people wash their hands after using public restrooms—that's down 6% from two years ago. And notably, 92% of Americans SAY they do. Unsurprisingly, men are the big offenders: their number was 66%. "Very... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • hygiene • Americans • bathroom • handwashing

Health Experts Don't Cotton to Dirty Lab Coats

Traditional MD garb now banned in Britain for spreading infection

Sep 17, 07 4:16 AM CDT
(Newser) - British doctors have been ordered to ditch their traditional lab coats because the National Health Service has determined that they're unwittingly spreading the superbug MRSA and other deadly hospital-acquired infections from patient to patient on the coats' cuffs. Doctors will now have to work with bare forearms and are banned... More »

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hospitals • hygiene • superbug • infection • doctor • MRSA • lab coat

Technology Goes to
the Toilet

Japanese fixtures warm, clean, massage and disguise noises

Sep 15, 07 8:59 AM CDT
(Newser) - In a country obsessed with both technology and cleanliness, it should be no surprise that  Japanese toilets set the standard for high-tech hygienic services, ranging from pre-warmed seats to artificial flushing sounds that drown out bodily noises without wasting water. More than 60% of all Japanese households are now equipped... More »

MORE ABOUT:
technology • Japan • hygiene • toilet • Toto

Hospitals Make Progress Against Infections

Cheap measures help caregivers prevent thousands of deaths

Jul 27, 07 12:00 PM CDT
(Newser) - Infections picked up in hospitals kill nearly 100,000 people in the US every year and are on the rise, but some institutions seem to have found a remedy: simple hygiene. The Times visits the VA hospital in Pittsburgh, which has slashed the rate of virulent bacterial infections by using... More »

MORE ABOUT:
health • hospitals • hygiene • patients • infection • sanitation

Physicist Wants To Wipe Out Toilet Paper

New one-ply TP is a step to a paperless bathroom

Apr 25, 07 9:20 AM CDT
(Newser) - A German physicist is engineering toilet paper that he says is more efficient  and softer than the familiar white roll. TP visionary Siegfried Hustedt claims a single ply of his new paper—which can "hold its shape longer under pressure"—will be sturdy enough to do the job,... More »

MORE ABOUT:
climate change • global warming • environmentalism • Proctor • hygiene • bathroom hygiene • toilet paper • bathroom • toilet • Sheryl Crow

15 Stories


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