Whites Bay, do you wear a tie?
I have a molecular bio background. I have read that there is a growing feeling that doctors ties may be a big part of helping infections be spread around hospitals. Some places have told doctors not to wear ties anymore.
On a tangent, a booth at conferences that does very good business is one that sells ties, boxer shorts and women's scarfs that are imprinted with patterns that are electron micrographs of bacteria and viruses. They almost always sell out. You can get syphillis, gohonorreah, AIDS, smallpox, hepatitis, yeast, botulism, and many more.