Another...your tank can be dangerous thread.

Yikes! Just caught this thread and it isn't the most reassurring thing. My bro and I were just clamboring on the rock jettie off Wrightsville Beach here in Wilmington and he sustained some good deep cuts. Didn't complain of any major pain other than the usual stinging. It seems to be a very fast spreading infection so he should be in the clear.
 
Hey Fishbait,
Forgive me because I am absent minded and also forget peoples nicknames, but have we met?
Sean
 
I don't think it's fair to assume the infection came from the tank. The saltwater could have just irritated the area and accelerated the process. My parents owned pet stores and a dog kennel. We never used gloves in the tanks and I've handled hundreds of thousands of fish and never got anything like that.
 
BigOrange,
I think I speak for many here when I say that I along with maaaany other people put their hands in the tank all the time with no problem!! I'm sure Sean has too. BUT!!.., it just takes one time or one bad luck for something like this to happen and yes, I'm gonna go for a longshot a say yes I'll bet it was the tank!! Have you read the whole thread through or just these last few posts ( I'm guessing just the last few from that comment)? Anyone knows that if anything, saltwater is usual good at "stopping" an infection. It's not the saltwater that caused what happened, it's the various bacterial life that also lives in the tanks.

As a sidenote, your sig. mentions you have a T4 pump on order. Where is it ordered from because I thought Velocity pumps aren't made any longer as the company went out of business.
 
I suppose you still use peroxide too? While it may kill everything, it also irritates the area and is a carcinogen.

Assuming it's the tank is unfair. I'm sure the thumb was used for other things that day too like holding toilet paper, doors, pens, keyboards, phones. You get the point. It is very possible that the tank accelerated the processes. That is why good physicians don't recommend using stuff like peroxide anymore. You use Antibiotic creams like neosporen.
 
Keep in mind Sean didn't assume it was the tank that did it. The doctor "assumed" the tank caused it.
I just hope it wasn't something at his work that caused it ;)
 
SOMEthinsFISHY said:
BIG orange very good points !!
Click to expand...

Except the part about hydrogen peroxide. This is an excellent wound cleanser for the first couple of days. Continuous use beyond that will inhibit re-epithelialization.
 
Tcook said:
This is an excellent wound cleanser for the first couple of days.
Click to expand...

There are other things available now, and I have been told peroxide is a carcinogen. Why bother using it when there are newer better products which are less harsh?
 
Good old Soap and Water!

Then a little NeoSporin and a Band Aid.


Heck what am I talking about! Most of the time I just put pressure on it until it stops bleeding LOL Then I only clean it up if my wife sees me picking at it :D
 
BiGOrange said:
There are other things available now, and I have been told peroxide is a carcinogen. Why bother using it when there are newer better products which are less harsh?
Click to expand...

Those studies were done using 90% H2O2 given orally to mice for prolonged periods. There are a few studies showing DNA strand damage in in vitro cell cultures in various species including human lines at high concentration. There is no evidence of in vivo human malignancies secondary to H2O2 and certainly not to 3% which is used to cleanse wounds. Other agents that are used including betadine and chlorhexidine can also damage tissue. The key is to use them briefly.
 
Tcook said:
Those studies were done using 90% H2O2 given orally to mice for prolonged periods. There are a few studies showing DNA strand damage in in vitro cell cultures in various species including human lines at high concentration. There is no evidence of in vivo human malignancies secondary to H2O2 and certainly not to 3% which is used to cleanse wounds. Other agents that are used including betadine and chlorhexidine can also damage tissue. The key is to use them briefly.
Click to expand...

thx for the info!
 
Just for the record.
Though I am not positive, nor can anyone else be without the results of the culture, I am certain that the problem stemmed from my tank.
I am now an advocate of gloves and believe that anyone who works in their tank with open/unhealed wounds on their hands is taking an uneeded risk.
I am sure I will work in my tank again without the use of gloves, but now I examine for cuts before diving (pardon the pun) in.
 
SeanT said:
Just for the record.
Though I am not positive, nor can anyone else be without the results of the culture, I am certain that the problem stemmed from my tank.
I am now an advocate of gloves and believe that anyone who works in their tank with open/unhealed wounds on their hands is taking an uneeded risk.
I am sure I will work in my tank again without the use of gloves, but now I examine for cuts before diving (pardon the pun) in.
Click to expand...

Are you going to use gloves when you take a leak too? hehe just kidding.

By the way for the folks who have not thought about it, most people dont wash their hands when they are in a public bathroom, so when they leave they put all those cooties on the handle. So when you wash your hands, and you open the door with your bare hand, you have more cooties than when you started, and they have a clean playground.

Make sure you use that paper towel to open the door with and drop it in the trash can on the way out. Also, the next time you go to a restaurant and see paper towels near the door, that is from a place not smart enough to place a trash can at the exit.
 
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It dosn't really matter what caused it. Just get it treated. The point is that fish tanks can have and have caused serious infections in the past. Also if you review the medical literature it is widely known that people with saltwater tanks are at higher risk for atypical infections (vibrio/mycobacterium) just from handling the contents. Don't be oblivious of this risk. Just be careful and know the signs of a serious infection. Will I wear gloves everytime I reach in the tank? No. Air pollution is known to cause lung cancer in very rare circumstances. Do I wear a gas mask? Just know the risk exists and do what you feel is safe.

The Antibiotic is Rocephin (ceftriaxone) a broad spectrum antibiotic, 3rd generation cephalosporin.

As for growing mycobacterium in a culture. It usually takes weeks and a special medium. IMHO, I bet the doctor didn't do this. Is it really necessary? No. You grow bugs in dishes to aid you in finding the best antibiotic to use. To help taylor your antibiotic regimen to one that is most cost effective and narrowed to the bacterium that is growing. If your Doc was using a good antibiotic in the first place how would culture results change his care of you? It woulnd't. Would cultures ultimately be that useful? No.

Just the humble opinion of an Orthopaedic Surgeon.
 
Before this gets out of hand, I don't want anyone to think I am attacking the OP. I understand this was a tramatic event, however it was a freak thing and the doctors were guessing at best what the cause was because they did not know.

It's not fair for the media of any type to start an unnessessary panic over something that is isolated so I am giving the other side of the coin, fair reporting if you may....

The fact of the matter is, if you are going to wear gloves in the tank, you also need to wear them anytime you use a public bathroom, or open a public door or phone, table, etc.

There are more germs in the public bathroom than you could ever even dream of picking up in your fish tank. In over 20 years of retail pet business, I never hear of a single person getting an infection from a fish tank. I have always had hang nails and other things and so did my dad, and neither one of us ever got infections from the tanks. My dad judged international fish competition and I don't recall hearing any stories in Broward County about hand infections.

Regardless, wearing gloves is not going to hurt anything unless it leaches something, but if you are going to wear gloves in the tank, you better bring them along with you when you leave the house too.
 
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