Hand Sanitizers

I am outing myself today....I hate hand sanitizers! I'm probably one of the few who is a mom and an employee in the healthcare industry who feels this way. I am going to go one more step and say that I also hate anti-bacterial soaps. I'm going to make a huge leap (supported by research) and claim that the increased use of these products has led to the increase in drug-resistent MRSA and bacterial infections. Infant thrush, a yeast infection on babies' mouths and mothers' nipples, has recently started to become resistant to antibiotics. MRSA is on the rise and not responding to antibiotics. Recent evidence has shown that ear infections heal the same if not faster without antibiotics.  Additionally, research is indicating that Triclosan, an ingredient in most antibacterial soaps, is actually dangerous to our health. http://www.fda.gov/forconsumers/consumerupdates/ucm205999.htm, http://www.nrdc.org/media/2010/100408.asp. Getting rid of bacteria is not keeping us healthier.

On a related note, as a mom (and former germaphobe), I cannot understate the importance of being exposed to germs as babies and toddlers. If our children are never exposed to germs, they never have the chance to build up antibodies. Those early runny noses and coughs can actually help them to be healthier when they are older. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/09/070905174501.htm. I feel very strongly that our need to keep everything sanitized and abnormally clean is hurting our children.

Here are a few more good reads on the subject:
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2011/02/25/myths-about-hand-hygiene.aspx

http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2010/05/01/warning--antibacterial-soap-linked-to-altered-hormones-and-antibiotic-resistance.aspx

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14996673?dopt=Abstract