I think it’s
fair to say that most of us would have some type of concern when going to get a
tattoo. Some might ask ourselves “Is it going to hurt?”, or “Will the tattoo
artist ruin the tattoo?” But, do you ever think that your tattoo can get
infected? There were reports of an outbreak of Mycobacterium chelonae in 2012.
Although these cases occurred two years ago, it can still happen if proper
steps and precautions aren’t taken. The article stated that the FDA released a
warning that even very clean shops can give their clients tattoos infected with
Mycobacterium chelonae. The bacteria
come from a method used by tattoo artists where they add water to dark ink for
the purpose of shading a tattoo. A manager of a tattoo shop said “It’s standard.”
The article stated that the FDA warns that if the water used to dilute ink isn’t
100 % sterile, it can contain bacteria and even adding alcohol won’t kill it.
Dr. Paul Pockros said “Mycobacterium form spores and those spores are very,
very hardy…the spores can live for years and even decades” It’s scary to think
that not only the ink in your skin will last forever but possibly the bacteria
you got from it. This article was neutral and informative but was lacking
sufficient information. It mentioned that most of the reported cases were
caused from the diluted ink but didn’t mention how else people were infected. I
wondered if clients possibly got infected from unsanitary tools.
http://www.10news.com/lifestyle/health/tattoo-shops-warned-of-dangerous-bacteria
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| http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2192844/Bacteria-related-TUBERCULOSIS-water-nationwide-outbreak-tattoo-infections-researches-say.html |
As if the thought of getting a tattoo wasn’t scary enough, there has to come the possibility of it getting infected to make you worry that much more. I have thought of possibly getting tattoos myself and I too asked myself those questions like “Is it going to hurt?” and “what if the tattoo artist messes up?” but I never thought to ask myself Is this going to get infected? What makes this even more worrisome is the fact that this can even happen in very clean shops, I would have imagined this only happens in cheap unsanitary tattoo shops. Having this in mind the government should implement some new regulations, which would actually require tattoo shops to only use 100% sterile water. This may prove to be a costly change, but it would be worth it so your customers wouldn’t have to worry about their tattoos possibly getting infected.
ReplyDeleteOne of my grad students has a small hole in his leg from where one of his tattoos got infected. He makes it a practice to see their autoclave where they sterile their tools.
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