Bacteria are transforming themselves against hand-washing and sanitizing solutions every day

Although promoted with antiseptic and antibacterial protection, hand sanitizing and disinfecting solutions may be ineffective if the current situation of self-mutagenic and drug-resistant bacteria continues to increase. .

Although asserted alcohol-based hand sanitizers can help prevent thousands of deaths from infectious diseases, in reality, these types of solutions may no longer be effective for some types. .

The virus is showing signs of resistance to alcohol-based hand washing solutions.

Scientists have warned of the phenomenon of many viruses showing signs of resistance to alcohol-based hand sanitizers. This is the type of solution commonly found in many public toilets and also in private homes to help people clean their hands and prevent bacteria.

The warning is completely grounded after an investigation in some Australian hospitals. Many antibiotic-resistant bacterial groups have been found to exist in hospitals, although patients use hand sanitizers.

The finding shows a type of intestinal bacteria called enterococci , one of the leading dangerous bacteria today because they can resist antibiotics such as vancomycin .

Testing bacterial samples taken from hospitals in Australia over a period of 19 years, the team found that the current bacteria are more likely to survive even in sterilized environments.

Bacteria are now more likely to survive even in sterilized environments.

In another study by a team led by Professor Johnson, they tested the antimicrobial efficacy of the E faecium hand sanitizer, one of the bacteria that causes infection.

Experimental scientists put the E faecium bacteria into a disinfected rat cage with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that we still use.

The results showed that E faecium bacteria continued to develop, attack and cause disease in the intestine of mice.

If this trend continues, it is also difficult for hospitals or medical circles in the world to prevent outbreaks and infections of these bacteria to people, especially the elderly and young children. poor immune system.

Hand washing and disinfecting machines have become popular in many hospitals around the world since the mid-2000s, when the international handwashing initiative was launched to reduce the rate of infection-related deaths. types of viruses such as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) .

Bacteria are changing and more and more resistant to drug resistance.

Professor Paul Johnson of the University of Melbourne said: " Across Australia, the incidence of MRSA has decreased, this is very important because patients are also healthier and the risk of infection is also significantly reduced. But we also "There is a gradual increase in many diseases such as vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) . This seems to be a paradox because both infections are inherently manageable by hand hygiene."

VRE is the fifth largest cause of septicemia in Europe and accounts for 10% of global blood infections.

In addition, VRE is a major concern because vancomycin-resistant bacteria may share resistance genes for other bacteria, threatening their ability to control and prevent disease.

Bacteria are changing and are increasingly more resistant to drugs, especially with hand sanitizing solutions, which are advertised to protect people from the effects of bacteria. This poses an urgent need for the world medicine community to find a way to prevent the situation.

The study was published in the recent Science Translational Medicine magazine.