What good is that hand sanitizer we trust to keep germs away? Not as good as it used to be. It’s alcohol-based, and bacteria are adapting to alcohol. When sanitizers were put into use in hospitals, some infections decreased, but others (especially ones affecting the bladder, heart, and digestive tract–the enterococcal infections) actually increased.
Right now, increasing the amount of alcohol from the usual 60% in hand sanitizers to 70% helps, but bacteria are adjusting to the higher concentration, as well. Read more about this at Some Bacteria Are Becoming ‘More Tolerant’ Of Hand Sanitizers, Study Finds.
And there are questions about how healthy such sanitizers are for humans.
The solution: Public health experts direct hospitals and us back to basics, which means frequent, adequate (20-30 seconds) washing of hands with plain soap that doesn’t contain anti-bacterial additives. Ignore the issue of hot vs. cold water, because they work the same, since your hands can’t stand water hot enough to kill bacteria.
Keep healthy, Friends!
