台灣媒體引用的源頭,是英國兩家報紙的報導,分別是 Daily Mail 和 the Sun。英國媒體會突然報導溫泉魚,是因為英國在今年年初有事件引發民眾對於溫泉魚足療的衛生安全考慮,英國衛生單位開始集合專家做調查和研究,在8月31日完成了建議報告,於10月18日發佈了新聞稿,指出「溫泉魚足療造成感染的可能性很低」(Fish pedicules unlikely to cause infection)。
英國官方的新聞稿,說明溫泉魚足療的風險很低,卻被這兩家媒體扭曲成引起恐慌的標題:Daily Mail 的標題是「溫泉魚足療恐散播HIV和C肝」;the Sun 的標題更誇張,說成「溫泉魚足療是病毒炸彈–可散播HIV和C肝」,配上一張恐怖的照片 (請自己點前面的連結去看)。這莫名其妙的報導,就被包括福斯(Fox News)在內的一些大新聞網貿然引用,接著在世界各地被翻譯流傳。
Fish pedicures involve the use of living fish. Therefore, conventional methods of sterilisation and disinfection of water and equipment are not applicable because they would kill the fish. This has led to concerns about the potential transmission of infection and, in addition, the welfare of fish. The practice has been banned in some countries on safety grounds. However, there is little evidence in scientific literature of the potential public health risk to users.
However, there is theoretical potential for BBV transmission to occur if
blood from one client gets into an open cut, abrasion or wound on another
client using the sametank. While the risk of BBV transmission via this route is
likely to be minimised due to the dilution factor in the water, there are no
useful models corresponding to this situation.