Jessica, I would ask that you don't think of use of cleaning products as a bad thing. It's about common sense use of these products, including antibacterial cleaners and disinfectants. They products play a role in everyday hygiene routines -- they aren't the only means of infection control.
Please note the front page story on MSNBC right now: Soap up! The 12 germiest places in your life
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LIVE TALK
Can Germs Keep Us Healthy?
Science writer Jessica Snyder Sachs joined us on Tuesday, Oct. 23 for an hour-long discussion on the role germs play in human health and wellness.
Updated: 8:33 p.m. ET Oct 20, 2007
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From hand sanitizers to antibiotics, humans are waging a war on germs. But is that a battle we should be fighting? It looks like our well-meaning attempts to protect against germs and bacteria have toughened them, rendering our strongest antibiotics ineffective. And a mounting body of research suggests that these tiny microbes are not detrimental but rather good for our health. Science writer Jessica Snyder Sachs, author of "Good Germs, Bad Germs," joined us on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at noon, ET, for an hour-long discussion on why germs may be an ally rather than enemy. Read the transcript below.
Jessica Snyder Sachs: Hi all. Thanks for dropping in during your lunch hour.
While the discussion's designated topic is "Can Germs Keep Us Healthy?" I've spent equal time following the researchers who study bad guys such as Staph. aureus (especially MRSA) and Clostridium difficile, a truly nasty bug that can invade when antibiotics knock back our protective bacteria. Besides, the title of my book (out this week—plug, plug) is "Good Germs, Bad Germs: Health and Survival in a Bacterial World." So I'm glad to open things up to the bad and the ugly, as well as the good.
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Miami, FL: What do you think will be the scenario if we continue to kill germs as we do today?
Jessica Snyder Sachs: Talk about getting right to the point!
First, there's the question of sanitation driving immune disorders such as allergies and allergic asthma. On that front, the research suggests that we're reaching a plateau of sorts in the developed world. The skyrocketing increase in allergies and asthma that we've seen over the last century has started to level off.
In terms of the way we currently use antibiotics to kill bacteria, the news is worse. Bacteria are getting drug resistant faster and faster. This makes sense because they accumulate genes for resistance and share their collections with each other. There are salmonella (food poisoning) bacteria out there with genes making them impervious to 15 or more antibiotics—and in a matter of minutes they can share these genes with previously susceptible bacteria. So the bugs are becoming resistant faster than scientists can develop new antibiotics.
Antibiotics are life-saving miracle drugs. But we have to use them more wisely. Moreover, they're short term solutions. Bacteria will always evolve around them. So we need other, longer-term solutions as well.
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