Overhyped Antimicrobial Soap

Washing hands with an antibacterial soap was no more effective at reducing bacterial levels or preventing illness than washing with ordinary soap, researchers said.

Furthermore, the soaps, most of which contain the antimicrobial triclosan, produced worrisome antibiotic cross-resistance among different species of bacteria, according to a study reported in a supplement to the Sept. 1 issue of Clinical Infectious Diseases.

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It's going to take more than one study to change how people wash their hands after years of aggressive marketing by the soap industry.

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Superbugs Shutdown Hospital

From CTV.ca:

The superbug outbreak that has shut down an Alberta hospital is just one example of a phenomenon that is happening more and more frequently in Canada, says an Ontario-based infectious disease specialist.

Vegreville's St. Joseph's General Hospital, in east-central Alberta, has halted all admissions, cancelled out-patient day surgery and closed the sterilization room amid the outbreak of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and the discovery of improper equipment sterilization procedures.

Dr. Donald Low, chief microbiologist at Toronto's Mount Sinai Hospital, says there wouldn't be a single hospital open in Canada if they all shut down over superbug outbreaks.

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If we shut down every American hospital with some MRSA, well, they'd probably all be closed...

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