Tattoos linked to rare skin infection in US

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By Agence France-Presse, Updated: 8/10/2011


At least two men may have come down with a rare bacterial skin infection that is hard to treat with antibiotics after getting tattoos at a store in Seattle, US health authorities said Wednesday.





One 44-year-old man was confirmed to have a case of Mycobacterium haemophilum after getting a tattoo on his arm in the western US city in August 2009, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

The infection, which showed up as a bumpy red rash and a pus infection on the skin's surface, resisted treatment with several antibiotics but eventually disappeared after nine months.

A second suspected case was reported in a 35-year-old man who got a tattoo at the same place two months later, but tests were inconclusive. The CDC said it considered it a "suspected" instance of infection.

The source of the bacteria remains a mystery. Authorities said the tattoo parlor was in compliance with safety regulations but told the owner to use sterilized water for rinsing skin and diluting ink instead of tap water. -- http://news.ph.msn.com/

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The source of the bacteria has not been traced. An investigation of the tattoo parlor by local authorities in December 2009 found all the procedures complied with Washington State safety and sanitation standards, although they did instruct the owner to switch to sterilized water instead of tap water for rinse solutions and diluting tattoo dyes.

None of the samples taken from various sites in the parlor, including the source of tap water, the tip of a reusable black ink container, various bits of equipment, the soap dispenser, and so on, showed traces of mycobacteria when tested by the CDC.

However, the authors note that although water has been suspected as a reservoir for M. haemophilum for various reasons, when investigators come to test environmental samples, using culture tests, as in this case, they are usually negative. They suggest that perhaps the interval of more than four months between the man visiting the parlor and the local authority investigation further reduced the chance of recovering any M. haemophilum.

They suggest tattoo operators probably use tap water because:

"No tattoo industry standards exist for the practice of diluting tattoo ink. Washington State does not specifically require tattoo artists to use steam-distilled or sterile water when rinsing needles or diluting ink."

But they refer to legislation, brought in in July 2010, that "prohibits mixing ink and pigments with improper ingredients".

So their conclusion, and recommendation is that despite the fact infections due to water appear uncommon, operators should not use tap water for for tattoo procedures. --More at: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/232631.php