Dr Andrew Kemp, Head of Scientific Advisory Board on the British Institute of Cleaning Science, said alcohol based hand gels have still not been proven to kill Covid-19 on skin. But the Lincoln university academic said overuse of the gels will allow other bugs – commonly found on our hands – to learn how to survive them. If antibiotic resistant superbugs adapt to survive alcohol it could lead to an “armageddon situation”, he warned.
He stressed that hand hygiene was vital to deal with the spread of Covid, and hand washing was a powerful weapon. But he warned that even the most potent sanitisers do not destroy every single bug, potentially giving rise to more problems.
The surviving bacteria would be resistant to alcohol and potentially far more harmful.
Hand Gels
Hygiene is important but alcohol gels are known to create more resistant and potentially far more harmful bacteria.
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Several pieces of a significantly important research have now come together to present a very different picture of the outcomes we can expect from the current doctrine on hand hygiene in our healthcare facilities. The new evidence, (one piece of which was produced by the BBC TV series “Twinsitutue”), shows beyond any doubt that alcohol gels have the capacity to not only increase the number of bacteria on skin, but to significantly change the species of bacteria that colonise the skin. Further, the species that is shown to replace the natural skin commensals, is a bacillus, this therefore carries an increase risk due to it’s potential for significantly more harm
https://biomedgrid.com/fulltext/volume1/alcohol-gels-causing-more-harm-than-we-thought.000557.php
Parents are over-sterlising the environments of their children because they don’t understand why dirt is good for us, a germ expert says.
Professor Jack Gilbert said that exposure to microbes prevalent in the great outdoors will establish a stronger, more robust immune system in young people.
“Most parents think all germs are bad, that is not true. Most will just stimulate your immune system and make you stronger,” Prof Gilbert told The Independent.
…Prof Gilbert also claims that hand sanitizer is more damaging to a child’s health than soapy water. According to Prof Gilbert, children’s immune systems were more healthy and robust than they are today because of more relaxed attitudes to germs. He explains that more fermented foods which contain bacteria, enable children higher exposure to animals, plants and soil more often.