Doctors in New Zealand are calling for a ban on teddy bears in surgery waiting rooms because of fears they may be spreading disease. A new study found that 90 per cent of soft toys examined in doctor鈥檚 waiting rooms were found to have moderate to heavy bacterial contamination.
Children with infectious diseases are likely to handle these toys while waiting to be seen, says Paul Corwin and Colleagues at Christchurch School of Medicine. They may even put them in their mouths, they add.
鈥淭he next child to play with these toys may thus be exposed to pathogens that could make them ill,鈥� the pair write in a paper published in the British Journal of General Practice.
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The team tested hard and soft toys taken from six GPs鈥� surgeries for levels of common bacteria, including a variety of organisms that colonise the gut, such as E. coli.
Soothing effect
They found that soft toys in particular were prone to carry bacteria, even though most of the surgeries machine-washed the toys at least once a fortnight.
But a cute teddy is likely to do more good than bad, according to Rose Mulligan, of Good Bears of the World, who distributes teddies to sick children in hospitals. 鈥淲e have been giving bears for 30 years and they have a soothing and comforting effect,鈥� she says, adding that the paper comes 100 years after Teddy Roosevelt named the first 鈥渢eddy bear鈥�.
But while no actual evidence of cross-contamination was found, the report鈥檚 authors say the study raises many questions. 鈥淚sn鈥檛 it time to give the teddy the boot?鈥� they write.
Journal reference: British Journal of General Practice Vol 52, p138