Israel: What causes cancer to the hospital workers?

What causes cancer to the hospital workers?
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 [1] 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".
( Note drafting, to read well : ionizing radiation !.)
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.

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