Study: Doctors' ties provide nesting ground for germs

That's the conclusion of a new study by an American medical student who found that while neckties may look nice, they also provide a convenient nesting ground for germs.

Steven Nurkin, who is completing his medical studies at Israel's Technion University, said he came up with the idea for the study while doing an elective course at New York Hospital Queens.

Nurkin, used to the casual open-collar atmosphere at Israeli hospitals, immediately noticed that his American colleagues wore ties.

"While examining patients, they would lean over, and their neckties would swing onto the bedding or onto the patient. Often it got coughed on or came into contact with a variety of other things," said Nurkin, 27, a native of Brooklyn.

Although the doctors would wash their hands after treating patients, they would also fix their ties after drying off, potentially re-exposing them to well-known hospital bugs, Nurkin said. The fact that neckties are rarely washed adds to the potential risk, he said.

Nurkin examined 42 ties of doctors and clinical workers at the New York hospital and found that 20 of them — or 48% — carried at least one infectious microbe.

In comparison, he examined the ties of 10 security guards who don't come into direct contact with patients. Only one of the ties carried a disease-causing microorganism.

"A clinician's necktie provides little benefit to patient care," the study concludes. "This study brings into question whether wearing a necktie is in the best interest of our patients."