I accidentally dropped a “health news” bomb on a colleague the other day. I strolled into her office and blurted it out: “Did you hear that antimicrobial wipes just spread bacteria from one spot to another?”
She took one look at the giant canister of wipes spilling out of her purse and another on the desk (she’s a nursing mom), and yelled, “Oh, God! No!”
So let me formally apologize for that one. The study actually found that overusing those wipes could spread, rather than kill, bacteria in a simulated hospital-like setting—not in the home.
Lead researcher Gareth Williams, PhD, a microbiologist at the Welsh School of Pharmacy at Cardiff University in Wales, explained that many wipes are marketed to hospitals as a way to cut down on deadly germs, such as MRSA. To see how effective they were, the researchers used a mechanical scrubbing device to test wipes containing three different germ killers—a detergent, a disinfectant, and a natural antimicrobial—on bacteria-impregnated disks. (Williams declined to reveal the brands or specific chemicals.)
They found that some wipes killed more bacteria than others (disinfectants were the best), but none of them killed all the germs. And all three could then transfer the survivors to another spot. The researchers believe a “one-wipe policy” is in order—meaning that a wipe should be used once (rather than rotating it for 10 seconds in the same spot) and then discarded.
However, the study doesn’t necessarily translate into the home. “My gut feeling is that it’s more important in the hospital,” says Williams, who presented the findings at the American Society for Microbiology meeting in Boston. And the reason is obvious: “There are sick people there who are more susceptible to infections.”
Still, I couldn’t help wondering: Should you discard a wipe after a single use at home?
To find out, I emailed Elaine Larson, RN, PhD, a professor of pharmaceutical and therapeutic research at Columbia University in New York City (and a researcher on the subject).
Larson’s reply was comforting. She pointed out that in the germ-spread study, the bacterial count was high, a “pretty tough test, and it is unlikely that people at home would find this level of bacterial contamination on their surfaces.”
However, if you are concerned about spreading bacteria around, the “suggestion to discard these disposable swipes after a single use would almost certainly mitigate any risk of cross-contamination,” she says.
Comments (0)