Antibacterial Soap Causes Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Essay -- Expos

The next time you are in your kitchen, look at the area where you prepare food. Do you wonder how many disease-causing bacteria could be living there? There most certainly are some. But dont allow that image drive you to throw down this magazine and run for the bacteriacide cleanser under the sink. Right now it is pretty tough for those bacteria to pass water it into your body and begin wreaking havoc, be fix there just arent enough of them right there in your kitchen. But TV commercials for antibacterial cleansers would have you believe otherwise. Those cheery soccer moms want you to be so afraid of the bacteria living in your kitchen that you make sure to buy their product-the one that kills 99.9% of bacteria. Now, its true that bacteria can cause illness, and as humans we are often at odds with bacteria, but we just cant kill them all. If we try, we could see our plans backfire and send ourselves into a new and shivering future of disease. To understand how, we simply need t o take a look at how bacteria have become rapidly resistant to antibiotics, and we see a story unfolding that begins with penicillin as an attack on disease and now has become a Frankensteins monster of sorts. Since the 1950s, antibiotics have been widely available and frequently prescribed, and accordingly our overuse of and dependence on antibiotics has left us powerless against new, stronger bacterial species capable of causing life-threatening illnesses, such as tuberculosis. In their valiant case to create safe, disease free environments, hospitals have unwittingly contributed to the proliferation of antibiotic resistant bacteria. Although these superbacteria are now found mainly in hospitals, a new draw in of household pr... ...w think of your own kitchen. You have the power to keep it as close to the memory of your childhood as you wish. By restricting our use of antibacterial products, we can keep our houses-and our childrens houses-safe. But by attempting to wipe out a ll bacteria and live germfree, we will catapult ourselves into a dark and uncertain future, where our outflank cure has become our worst poison. Notes 1. News Release Archive for 1999, the Soap and Detergent Association web site, 22 whitethorn 2014 <http//www.sdahq.org/about/archive99.htmltriclosan>. 2. Joseph B. Verrengia, Some Soaps May Aid Drug Resistance, AP Online. 6 August 2014, 16 June 2014 <http//web.lexis-nexis.com/ > see also Barbara Ingham, September 2014 Newsletter, Food Facts for You 20 June 2014 www.uwex.edu/ces/flp/specialists/ingham/sep2014.html3. Verrengia.