DOCTOR'S DRESS CODE AIMED AT HALTING GERMS

A new dress code for doctors, nurses and other health care workers calls for outfits that may be short on style, but long on what it takes to keep dangerous germs from spreading among patients. Short sleeves, bare hands and forearms and white coats that are laundered at least once a week – if not more often – are the keys to keeping nasty bugs such as Staphylococcus aureus from hitching a ride on a doctor's wrist. Neckties are questionable. Watches and rings have to go. It's not clear what to do about name tags, lanyards, necklaces and cell phones, but when in doubt, it’s best to clean the offending items – or get rid of them. That's according to new guidance on hospital attire released Monday by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America, or SHEA. The group obsessed with stopping infections in hospitals and health care settings turned its attention to dozens of studies that suggest that grimy hospital garb might be responsible for spreading germs