Antibacterial products include anything that kills germs or prevents the growth of bacteria. There has been growing concern about the effects of using antibacterial products (and antibiotic medicines) so much that human immune systems are not properly developing immunity because they have no opportunity to fight off germs thanks to the overuse of germ-fighting products when they're not TRULY necessary. What started out as a "better safe than sorry" mentality with germ-fighting products has put us in a situation where we're unable to fight germs off; and in the case of medicine, bacterial strains are growing more and more resistant to medicine.

In a sense, we have interfered with nature's course... and we took it too far.

But there is definitely a time and place for the use of these germ killing products without going overboard. For example, if you carry an antibacterial hand gel in your purse it's great to use it after using the bathroom or when your kids have handled animals or something suspect IF there is no soap and water available. But in these situations, if you have soap and water available--then using an antibacterial gel is overuse of an antibacterial product. This is a good example of how overuse becomes easy.

People often feel that using antibacterial soap in the kitchen is critical, when in fact hand-washing (done correctly) is as effective as using an antibacterial product. Cleaning surfaces where raw meat has been handled is a safety measure worth the use of an antibacterial product.

There are, of course, environments where we want to remove any kind of germs. These include food establishments (where the likelihood of cross-contamination is very high), hospitals and environments with people who have compromised immune systems (often due to immunosuppression therapy or chemotherapy). Some people would group infants into "those with compromised immune systems" but the reality is that typically developing infants with no specific illness have excellent immune systems; and allowing their bodies to experience the normal course of germs in day-to-day life only helps build their little immune systems.

And the medical community has caught on to this concept as well. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics revised their guidelines in 2004 to promote waiting for 48-72 hours for an earache to resolve before prescribing antibiotics.

So help yourself, your family and your environment. Be careful to keep clean and healthy with soap and water. Warm, running water with soaping your hands for at least 15 seconds and drying well.


American Academy of Pediatrics guidelines on treating earaches (Acute Otitis Media)
http://www.aap.org/advocacy/releases/aomqa.htm

Alliance for Prudent Use of Antibiotics (link is to Q&A on antibacterials)
http://www.tufts.edu/med/apua/Q&A/Q&A_antibacterials.html#12