article_snippet.sent: Children's soft toys act as a reservoir for bacteria and bring germs into hospitals, scientists have warned.
article_snippet.sent: Children's toys could act as a reservoir for bacteria and bring germs into hospitals, scientists at Vanderbilt UniversityTennessee, have warned .
article_snippet.sent: Children's toys concluded this implied one of two scenarios.
article_snippet.sent: Children's toys study revealed that soft toys brought into the operating theatre by children served as a breeding ground for bacteria.
article_snippet.sent: Children's toys urged parents to be aware of the dangers comfort items could pose, and take steps to eradicate the risk.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Jonathan Schoenecker and Jonathan Schoenecker aimed to investigate if cuddly toys contribute to surgical-site infections.
article_snippet.sent: Dr Jonathan Schoenecker and his team swabbed stuffed animals that were brought into hospital by children ahead of surgery.
article_snippet.sent: The findings revealed that all those soft toys swabbed showed bacterial growth.
article_snippet.sent: In addition, Children's toys demonstrated that a single wash and dry cycle at home, followed by sealing the toy in a plastic bag for 24 hours, effectively 'sterilised' 79 per cent of those soft toys tested.
article_snippet.sent: Researchers urged parents to wash and sterilise Researchers child's toys before bringing their child's toys into the operating theatre, to help minimise the risk of their child's toys child suffering a surgical-site infection .
article_snippet.sent: The study report states: 'These results indicate that items of comfort, such as stuffed animals, brought into the operating room with a benevolent purpose may represent a reservoir of bacteria that could lead to unwanted surgical-site infections. '
article_snippet.sent: Children's toys note that future studies will be needed to determine the correlation between stuffed animals that test positive for bacteria and surgical-site infections.
article_snippet.sent: Another area to look at is whether giving a child a 'sterile' soft toy reduces the risk of surgical-site infections.
highlights_snippet.sent: Found all stuffed toys they swabbed
highlights_snippet.sent: Urged parents to wash and sterilise any cuddly toys before surgery .