hygiene

Hand Sanitizers Lead to Fewer Infections, Antibiotics in Children

Young children are constantly wiping their noses and sticking their fingers in their mouths. Kids in daycare are forever bringing home germs and passing them along to the rest of the family. But a new study suggests that kids may develop fewer respiratory infections, miss less days of school, and reduce their chance of being prescribed an antibiotic if they use alcohol-based hand sanitizer instead of soap and water to clean their hands. [1]

Blowing out Birthday Candles = 1400% More Bacteria. Yum!

If you try to avoid fattening foods at birthday parties, this story may have you swearing off cake forever. It might have crossed your mind that when someone leans over to blow out their birthday candles, they’re spewing spit and germs everywhere, and you’d be right about that. According to researchers, blowing out birthday candles increases the amount of bacteria on a cake by 1,400%. [1]
Who wants some ice cream?

Diarrhea-Inducing Parasite in Public Pools: How to Protect Yourself

People pee in swimming pools – that probably doesn’t come as a shock to you. You tuck it in the back of your mind when you go swimming; but you when you accidentally swallow a mouthful of pool water, you know you’re getting more than H2O and chlorine. Well, there’s another threat lurking in public swimming pools. It’s a diarrhea-inducing parasite called cryptosporidium, and federal officials said back in May that cases of the bug are on the rise.
Source: CDC

Triclosan a Hazardous Antibacterial Agent, Works ‘No Better than Regular Soap’

Cold weather will soon be here, kids are bringing home colds from school, and flu season is right around the corner – so parents are beginning to focus even more on antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers. But scientists in Korea have found that antibacterial soaps are a waste of money and don’t work any better than regular soaps. What’s more, the use of antibacterial soaps and hand sanitizers is contributing to the development of bacterial superbugs.
Not only that, but many antibacterial soaps are bad for you, too.