Stethoscopes loaded with bacteria, including staph, study finds

The stethoscope is one of the most important and perhaps the most recognizable of all tools used by health care professionals. But new research finds they are often crawling with bacteria, including some germs that can cause serious infections.The study, published in the journal Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, found that Staphylococcus, the bacteria responsible for staph infections, was found in abundance on many stethoscopes, with more than half of the devices having confirmed co