True or False: There is a good chance your health care provider’s stethoscope is covered with bacteria.
Answer:
True: Your health care provider’s stethoscope could be covered in bacteria, including some that are resistant to antibiotics. In one study, more than half of workers had never cleaned this standard piece of equipment. Your risk of getting an infection this way is probably low. But the odds drop even more if the diaphragm — the part that touches your skin — is sanitized.