The stethoscope may be the iconic medical tool that most doctors cannot do without, to diagnose and cure their patients' illnesses. Unfortunately, it may also be a cesspool of germs that could spread ...

DETROIT (WWJ) - They're a symbol of healing, but a new study finds one of the tools doctors use can be a magnet for bacteria. The diaphragm of a stethoscope — the round piece placed against a ...

Though doctors may disinfect their hands to prevent spreading illness, there may be another bacteria-ridden object they have on them that doesn't get the same cleaning treatment: their stethoscopes. A ...

A recent Mayo Clinic study showed stethoscopes are spreading germs.The research found the medical tool can become more germ infested than a doctor's hands, but local doctors are finding ways to ...

Stethoscopes are used by every healthcare provider and are a universal tool of the trade. Nevertheless, few practitioners put much thought into sterilizing them. Although concerns about stethoscope ...

CHICAGO (AP) — Two centuries after its invention, the stethoscope — the very symbol of the medical profession — is facing an uncertain prognosis. It is threatened by hand-held devices that are also ...

Stethoscopes tend to be more contaminated than the palms of physicians' hands, new research shows. In a recent Swiss study, researchers discovered that more bacteria cover a stethoscope's diaphragm ...

The basic premise of the stethoscope has been around for centuries, largely unchanged. Jonathan Kitchen/DigitalVision via ...

Dirty stethoscopes may be helping to spread dangerous bugs around GP surgeries and hospital wards, a study suggests. One of the instruments was found to be more contaminated with bacteria than the ...

Two centuries after its invention, the stethoscope — the very symbol of the medical profession — is facing an uncertain prognosis. It is threatened by hand-held devices that are also pressed against ...