February 23, 2018.
A study which has just appeared proves that the antibacterial gels used in particular in hospital environment, are less and less effective.
Bacteria adapt to gels used in hospitals
A study conducted by researchers at the University of Melbourne in Australia, and published on January 28 in BioRiv, found that antibacterial gels used in hospital settings for fight infections, are less and less effective.
” It was probably naive to think that “super bacteria” would not be able to adapt to alcohol-based disinfectants. When you consider all that we have introduced in an attempt to fight bacteria, we see that they always find a way to evolve to bypass them », Explains Matthew O’Sullivan, of the University of Sydney (Australia), in the columns of the New Scientist.
Bacteria evolve
The 193 samples studied between 1997 and 2015 enabled them to observe that bacteria had increased their resistance to alcohol-based products tenfold. Thanks to this work, we also know the evolution of the number of infections linked to these bacteria. They were multiplied by five over the period of the study.
Scientists have also found that their membrane is increasingly resistant. The soap was not effective enough, so the bacterial gel seemed to be a solution to prevent many infections. What hygiene solution should be put in place to avoid these bacteria?
Maylis Choné
Read also: Why you should avoid using automatic hand dryers
