Antibacterial soaps and infections

Using antibacterial soaps and cleansers at home does not necessarily reduce the risk of getting sick. Recent research has shown that people who use antibacterial soaps and cleansers develop cough, runny nose, sore throat, fever, vomiting, diarrhoea and other symptoms just as often as people who use products that did not contain antibacterial ingredients. Approximately 75 percent of liquid soaps and 29 percent of bar soaps in the U.S. contain antibacterial ingredients. But the benefits of antibacterial products in preventing infectious diseases in households are still unproven. Researchers from the Columbia University School of Nursing, New York, studied 238 families who were given almost a year's supply of free soap. Half of the families were given antibacterial products, while the other half received products that did not contain antibacterial ingredients. The families did not know what type of products they were using. For nearly a year, the families were closely followed to see how often they experienced a wide variety of symptoms. Runny nose, cough and sore throat were the most common symptoms, followed by fever, vomiting and diarrhoea. It was found that these symptoms occurred just as frequently in people who used antibacterial products at home as they did in people who did not. Throughout the study, use of antibacterial products did not have a significant effect on any of the symptoms. The present study did not include information about bacterial counts. But in a previous analysis of the results, researchers found that families experienced a drop in bacterial counts irrespective of whether they used antibacterial or normal soaps and cleansers. The researchers pointed out that any potential benefits of antibacterial products had to be weighed against the possibility that bacteria may develop resistance to antibacterial products. However, it is more important to keep clean than it is to use any specific antibacterial product.

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