Acupuncture transmitted infections

Dear BMJ,

I very much appreciate the author's goal of trying to prevent
the spread of infection of any sort. I am personally curious
as to the outcomes of a true study of such information as I
wish to make sure my own patients are safe.

However, this editorial being published in a prestigious
journal such as the British Medical Journal is extremely
troubling to me.  I'm an acupuncturist in America and I feel
like this kind of editorial and article could easily create an
unhealthy scare in the public against acupuncture when
there is MINIMAL evidence here that current practices are
actually problematic. This mostly talks about spread of
infection in a setting that no longer exists. EVERY
acupuncturist in the United States is bound by Clean Needle
standards to single use, sterile needles.

What I can't find in this editorial, and the author's own
articles, is what the conditions of the patients were who
experienced these problems.  Were they receiving single-
use needles? Was this just in Hong Kong or was it also in
the US or the UK?  Was there an alcohol swab applied and
was it a single use swab or cotton ball with an alcohol
dispenser?

As we speak, this editorial is being republished on the BBC,
Reuters and a huge number of other news organizations.
I'm just waiting for the moment when my local news
organization picks this up and in turn my office gets
worrying phone calls from patients. When this happens, I
will have absolutely no idea what to tell them as this
editorial is lacking in any real information. It is sensational
and should have never been published in such a prominent
journal and location.

I highly recommend that you retract this as soon as
possible, or at the very least provide real, concrete
information that is not based on only a few current patients,
and the rest of the occurrences happened in the 1980s.

Sincerely,
Steven Mavros, L.OM.
President
Association for Professional Acupuncture in PA (USA)

Competing interests:
An Acupuncturist