The clean-shave: A study in South Africa found that barbers’ tools are contaminated. PHOTO | FILE | NATIONMEDIA GROUP
Getting your head shaved clean might be trendy, but it exposes
you to the risk of getting infected with hepatitis, or even HIV, a new
research shows.
The study, by South
African researchers, revealed that most shaving machines gather blood
from clean-shave haircuts, and could be contributing to the high
prevalence of Hepatitis B in sub-Saharan countries.
They
confirmed that hair clippers were contaminated with blood and
blood-borne viruses, and Hepatitis B was detected with enough DNA copies
to pose a risk of transmitting infection.
The findings were published in the South African Medical Journal last week.
Dr
Zandile Spengane of the University of Cape Town said although HIV was
not detected in the small study, the risk of transmission should be
quantified.
CLEAN-SHAVE
“A
history of haircut-associated bleeding as a result of clean-shave
haircuts was an unexpected finding. The potential transmission of
blood-borne viruses such as hepatitis B (HBV) and HIV is most
concerning,” said Dr Spengane.
The study, Blood and virus detection on barber clippers,
was done to investigate the prevalence of blood contamination on
barbers’ tools, especially focusing on the presence of HIV and hepatitis
B viruses.
Aerial maps were used to sample 50 barber shops from three townships in Cape Town, South Africa.
Basic
demographic data was collected by getting a clipper from every barber
immediately after it was used for a clean-shave haircut. The barbers
were given a new clipper in exchange.
BARBERS
The
methods used by the barbers to clean the clippers after use on each
client were documented. Each clipper was placed in a ziplock bag at room
temperature, after which the bag was sealed and taken to a laboratory
for a virological sampling of the clipper.
“The
hepatitis B and HIV status of clients was unknown. There are some
confounding factors that could have contributed to our results, such as
the skill of the barbers and the methods they used to cut the
hairstyles,” Dr Spengane said.
She said the amount of time spent cleaning the clippers using the different methods was not measured.
BETTER QUALITY
“This
is also a possible confounding factor and could have contributed to the
results. A study with a bigger sample size could obtain results of
better quality,” she added.
The study found out that the clean-shave haircut was the most popular, requested by 78 per cent of the clients.
Of
the clippers collected, 42 per cent tested positive for HBB (a blood
protein infection), confirming that blood was detected. None tested
positive for HIV, while four 8 per cent tested positive for HBV.
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