A recent study conducted by an American medical student in Israel tested samples of ties worn by doctors and clinical workers. It found 48 percent of them carried disease-causing micro-organisms.
Those ties were compared to those of security guards who don't come into direct contact with patients, and only one tie carried bacteria.
Area physicians say, you shouldn't ask your doctor to loosen his tie just yet.
"I wouldn't go that far, not yet. I think the better question is did you wash your hands before you examined me?" says Doctor Kevin O'Connell, Wausau Family Practice.
O'Connell says patients should not be alarmed if your doctor wears ties. He says sanitary hands are much more important when it comes to dealing with patients.
