From Euro Surveillance Monthly Release Volume 11/Issue 1 January 2006
 

"In 1982, an American physician notified the Municipal Health Service (MHS) in Amsterdam that eight American soldiers had contracted hepatitis B during their stay in Amsterdam.  All these soldiers had visited the same tattoo studio. A public health nurse from the MHS department of infectious diseases made a site visit where he noticed that the tattooist used extremely unhygienic procedures. He had a bucket filled with bloody water and a sponge, which were used to 'clean' the skin where the tattoo was to be applied. He used the same needles on all clients, without any cleaning in between. To test whether the needles were still sharp, he touched them on the back of his hand before he started tattooing clients.
In the same year, a survey carried out among all tattoo studios in Amsterdam indicated that hygienic conditions were universally bad. This finding, together with the hepatitis B outbreak, supplied the impetus to urgently set up local regulations for the tattoo studios, working with one of the tattooists."

Questions
You won't get an answer but you should see your results within a few days.

1) Did the soldiers contract hepatitis at the tattoo shop?    
    Yes, Likely, Can't Tell, Not Likely, No  

2) If the soldiers got it from the shop then the tattooist had it too.
   Yes, Likely, Not Likely, No      

3) The soldiers got hepatitis from the tattooist's blood on the needles.
     Yes, Likely, Can't Tell, Not Likely, No     
 

4) The soldiers got hepatitis from the water and sponge cleaning before the tattoo.
     Yes, Likely, Can't Tell, Not Likely, No    
 

5) MHS was doing the right thing by establishing regulations for hygienic studios.
    Yes, Likely, Not Likely, No     

Question 6 Knowing these following facts
a)  there was a general hepatitis B outbreak in Amsterdam at the same time unrelated to Tattoo,
b) they were American soldiers getting tattooed in a foreign port,
c)  Amsterdam may have a red-light district,
does that weaken the likelihood of the soldiers getting hepatitis at the tattoo shop?
Yes, No Effect, No 

7) Would it change the likelihood if we knew the tattooist's hepatitis status.
Yes, No Effect, No 

8) After the tattooist tested the needles for sharpness on himself is it likely the needles were contaminated with the tattooist's blood?  
Likely, Can't Tell, Not Likely 

9) If the Tattooist Did NOT have Hepatitis, and he tested the needles each time on himself,
then would this decrease the likelihood of the soldiers getting hepatitis at his shop. Yes or No 

Are you a Tattooist, Piercer, Health Care Professional, student, etc.?

   

Some answers received

																										Tabulation Totals
Q	Y E S	L I K E L Y	C A N T T E L L	N O T  L I K E L Y	N O	N O E F F E C T
1	12	10	4		1
2	7	15		1	4
3	4	6	7	3	4
4	2	11	7	3	2
5	26	1
6	7				5	3
7	11				3	1
8	1	13	1
9	3				9