Hand Sanitizers....not a good idea??

I remember just a year or so ago when the MSM was thumping the table about the use (or OVER use actually) of hand sanitizers and antibacterial products in general. The census then was we needed to stop using these products because the strongest strains of viruses and bacteria survive and then THEY multiply (already immune to the antibacterial agent) and that's how a big problem gets even bigger. Same thing with anti-biotics. So, here comes the swine flu. NOW, we are told "WASH WASH WASH YOUR HANDS AND USE ANTIBACTERIAL SOAP AND HAND SANITIZER"

Hello????

Won't that action only do what was brought to our attention not too long ago?? That by using these methods, we only make the problem BIGGER. We don't need to be using "survival of the fittest" with a virus.......

Stupid question, but, why tell us one thing one day, and then say the completely different thing the next......and why aren't more people questioning this??

[edit on 5-5-2009 by scrubsnstuffkim]

Just like a ton of other things, these cases have multiple sides. It's impossible to take one side and stand by it. For example, right now we should probably wash our hands when it comes to the A/H1N1 virus, because if we don't, chances are thousands of us get infected - and that increases the chance of mutating to a more dangerous variant by a huge factor. Consider an infected person as a breeding and mutating ground for viruses - 1 infected person contains thousands of specimens, each of which may mutate. When he washes his hands, the stronger ones survive: but because they are small in number after washing, they have less chance of infecting another person. There is a small chance, and it would lead to the doom-scenario - but with just 1 person, that chance is tiny. However, when thousands are infected, the chance is not so tiny anymore.

..

For a frontal approach to this paradox, let's say we would abstain from washing. In that case, viruses get a free homerun to all our bodies. This pretty much equals the case in which the viruses have mutated in a way that makes them immune to whatever we're fighting them with. So, not washing is as bad as the doom scenario for washing. Obviously the best thing we can do lies in-between: try to be safe through washing, and if we still get sick, we need to keep our eye on that particular strain.

eh, anti-bacterial soap is probably a waste of time but washing you hands is never a bad thing.

when you sneeze you use you hands to hold a tissue over you nose/mouth, or you should, this means some vapor will get on you hands and then you open a door and it gets on the door and the next person to open the door gets it on their hands and they shake hands with their boss and he.........

you want to wash off the vapor, mainly. it's just good hygiene.

I don't doubt the fact that good, frequent hand-washing is a good idea (everyday, not just during an outbreak) and I think this is a no-brainer.

What my post is questioning is why we would use SANITIZERS and ANTI-BACTERIAL agents when we were just told not but a year ago that they STRENGTHENING VIRUS STRAINS AGAINST THEM .....

FWIW, A biochemist told me to put 300 drops of bleach into a hand sanitizer (typical grocery-store size--plus he dumps out a little of the cleanser to make room for those 300 gtts). He says without bleach, you're just smearing the germs around. I'm allergic to bleach and stick to soap and water.

Receiving contradictory health advice...

Advice depends on whether advertisers are in competition with targetted product. People have to do their own legwork and find the health solutions that work for them.

As far as washing the hands, there are a number of factors:

1. Keeping fingernails short and very clean

2. Scrubbing hands

3. Washing hands after petting animals, more frequent washing of hands if your pet lives inside

4. Exposing bedding, furniture, rugs, kitchen and bathroom equipment to at least a couple of minutes of sunlight (UV radiation kills all viruses and bacteria). Doesn't matter if it's cloudy, UV passes through clouds like they weren't there.

5. A positive, rather than fear-driven or drama-driven, attitude towards your own and your family's health

I am qualified in the field of microbiology, I am not a doctor, neither am I a qualified naturopath (equal or even superior to a medical doctor in my view).