What causes cancer to the hospital workers?
Maariv newspaper
25.9.07
By Ela Harnoi and Hila Alroi
Haifa's Carmel hospital workers are scared: lately
there has been found a large number of cancer cases, especially on
one of the top floors of the main building. Part of the workers are afraid that the cause is the cellular antenna
which is erected near this floor.
The hospital opened an investigation. Among the patients: the department manager, a unit
manager, nurses and official physicians. In one of the cases, the
department manager left the hospital after he got sick and the person who
came
instead of him got sick too. At least 5 team
members of the same floor got cancer, and additional number of doctors and
nurses of other floors. Among the diseases:
pancreas cancer, liver, lymphoma, breast cancer, multiple myloma and brain
tumors.
The team was worried for some time about the
cancer morbidity that seems to be abnormal, and during the last two
weeks
another case was discovered in a nurse who works at
the same floor where other team members got sick.
The hospital manager, Dr. Hen Shapira, asked
prof Gadi Renart, manager of the cancer control center at the General Health
Services and manager of department of community and
epidemiology in the Carmel medical center, to start investigating the cases.
"During these days accurate data is collected in
order to check whether there is excess of morbidity than expected"
explained prof Renart yesterday.
Part of the workers blame the cellular antenna
which is located near one of the floors where large number of cancer cases
was discovered. But prof Renart says, "the thought
that the cause is an antenna is probably not realistic, because according to the
scientific knowledge that was gathered until today, there is no proof that
antennas cause cancer.
In the health professions there is an exposure
to many substances that can cause cancer, in addition they
are exposed to diseases which can weaken the
immune system".
According to Dr. Avi Rotshild, a department
manager, who got cancer, it is a coincidence:"I would never come back
to work
in a floor that will endanger my health, and
I gladly returned to work at the department after my
recovery.
I served in the Kishon [[chemically polluted stream
where soldiers dive]] and it is impossible to know where the cancer came
from"
Dr. Rotschild told that nurses and doctors who
worked at his depatrment came to him: "I have total belief that it is
a very weird
coincidence and each member of the team who
came to me received all possible information"
Within 3 weeks the hospital workers will gather for
a team meeting.
The workers are very afraid but according to
Renart, "even if there will be found an excess of morbidity,
relatively than the expected in the
population, it is possible that the investigation will end
in with dead end,
as happens many times".
From the hospital it was said that
"the management is committed and acts to insure the safety of
the
hospital environment according to the law
guidlines, and even beyond it.
Radiation measurements are done once a
year. The latest ionizing radiation check was done in
August".
More it was said that the cancers
which were found are of many types, which reduces the chance
that
the morbidity was caused by the one
cause.