44 Cases of Staph Infection Linked to Tattoos

You’ve probably already seen this headline, since the articles have been plastered on every news source around the country. If you haven’t read the full details, you may be thinking that there is some rampant strain of Staph sweeping the nation, infecting people getting tattoos all over the place. This is where media sensationalism comes in, making things seems bigger and worse than they actually. However, this is definitely a problem.

The reports are a result of a study by the CDC, which show that there were 44 cases of antibiotic-resistant Staph infection, in the years 2004 and 2005, which were the direct result of unclean, unsafe, and unlicensed tattoos. It has been traced back to 13 unlicensed tattooists. This is where the problem lies.

I will say it as many times as I need to until I have no breath left in me—you get what you pay for in this business. You cannot go to an unlicensed tattooer any more than you can go to an unlicensed doctor or dentist and expect a clean, safe experience! You cannot base your choice of tattooer solely on price! The guys that charge $75 for a small tattoo are charging you that because they have to in order to recuperate the expense they pay for licensing, safe products, proper sterilization and quality inspections of their equipment. If they’re not charging for that, they’re not doing it!

Karma: "For every event that occurs, there will follow another event whose existence was caused by the first, and this second event will be pleasant or unpleasant according as its cause was skillful or unskillful."

To save a few bucks, 44 people (at least) had to be hospitalized and probably spend hundreds of dollars, not to mention endure intense pain while some of them had to have abscesses and rotting flesh surgically removed from their bodies. Isn’t Karma fun?