Plain Soap as a Natural Method of Infection Prevention

It is estimated that 80 percent of communicable illnesses are spread through touch but only about 30 percent of adults wash their hands after using the toilet and still fewer wash thoroughly. The very people who ought to know better are among the worst offenders. Nosocomial infections, or those occurring as the result of hospital caregivers not washing properly, kill 30,000 people each year and sicken another 70,000. In fact, the CDC estimates that as many as 15% of all hospital patients catch some type of nosocomial infection. The vast majority of these illnesses and deaths could easily be prevented by careful, deliberate handwashing with plain soap and clean water.

As early as the 1840s a few doctors were championing handwashing to limit disease transmission. In 1843 American physician Dr. Oliver Wendell Holmes created a scandal in his workplace by requiring handwashing as a means to prevent childbed fever. Dr Holmes believed that this disease, which killed up to 25% of women delivering in hospitals, was transmitted to women by their physicians. Dr. Holmes wasn't alone in his crusade. A few years later an Austrian, Dr. Ignaz Semmelweis, observed delivery room death rates of women assisted by medical students to be up to 3 times higher than the death rates of women assisted by midwives. Dr. Semmelweis correctly guess that the medical students were carrying germs from the autopsy rooms right into the delivery rooms. His program of using chlorinated water to wash his medical students' hands brought the mortality rate down to less than 1%. Unfortunately his colleagues were enraged by his actions and ordered the handwashing to stop.

Though handwashing was important in years past, it is equally vital today. Sixty percent of America's children are under six years of age and many of them spend a great deal of time in day care or preschool where they are at increased risk for diarrhea illnesses such as rotavirus. According to the FDA, diarrhea is 30 percent more common in day-care children than preschoolers cared for at home. In America the diarrhea from rotavirus is usually short lived but in other parts of the world it is major cause of death in children under five, killing an estimated 5 million children a year.

Diarrhea-borne diseases aren't the only issues that a well designed handwashing campaign could help. According to the CDC 22 million schools days are lost each year just to the common cold. Not surprisingly, children who exercise proper handwashing habits miss less school than those who don't. Elementary school children practicing good handwashing technique miss 2.42 days a year while children the same age practicing inadequate handwashing habits miss 3.02 days per school year.

In 2004 the Karachi Health Soap Study studied the effects of handwashing education in 36 Pakistani neighborhoods. Researchers found that children who received plain soap along with handwashing instructions had a 53% lower incidence of diarrhea (and a shorter duration of diarrhea when it occurred) than children in the control group. The study also showed antibacterial soaps to be no more effective at reducing diarrhea episodes than plain soap.

The Karachi Health Soap Study confirmed the suspicions of many in the natural health industry. Diligent handwashing programs clearly lower the risk of diarrhea illnesses but antibacterial soaps and bath products are unnecessary for most families. Some in the natural products industry have even feared that the every-day use of germ killing products may eventually lead to the development of resistant strains of bacteria. A study by Tufts University looked at the effect of Triclosan, the chemical that makes products antibacterial, on E. coli bacterium. Researchers discovered that Triclosan kills by acting upon a specific bacterial gene. This discovery seems to prove that the threat of future resistance is very real.

Unlike antibacterial soaps, which actually kill germs, traditional soaps work mainly by removing germs. The mechanical action of rubbing your hands together dislodges germs so that running water can flush them away.

Concerns about creating resistant strains of bacteria have led some disease experts to recommend plain soap and clean water as a disease transmission preventative. Whether those fears are well founded or not it seems indisputable that deliberate, frequent handwashing with plain soap and water is an effective way to protect against person-to-person transmission of some of the most common communicable diseases.

Lisa Barger is a traditionally trained naturopath specializing in illness prevention. For information about Ms. Barger's free seminars for churches, day cares and non-profit organizations please see our web site at http://www.LisaBarger.com.

---

Aromatherapy -- The Fact & The Fiction

You've seen those mysterious little brown bottles in the health... Read More

How Dirty Dishes And Stale Bread Saved The World

Home Remedies - Facts or Quacks?That's what I recently asked... Read More

Dopamine Relieves Pain ? Try Encouraging Your Subconscious To Supply It

Dopamine has long been known to be linked to positive... Read More

Water Therapy: Therapeutic and Esoteric Properties for Your Home Spa Smart Bathing

Something New Interesting About Water Therapy."The more I find out,... Read More

Breathing Your Way To Health

Breathing, yes of course we do it, if not we'd... Read More

How to Use Herbal Salves & Ointments to Shrink Your Hemorrhoids

Comfrey Herbal SalveHere is an herbal combination that contains herbs... Read More

Mental Anchors

Have you ever noticed when you remember something pleasant in... Read More

Fasting is the Fast Track to Detox

Because of our mechanized and industrialized society we find toxic... Read More

Health Benefits of Tea

Tea: It Does the Body GoodStudies that support the health... Read More

Ginger for Upset Stomach

The common ginger root used in cooking has been found... Read More

Nerve Pain: Try Using Visualizations And You May Get Some Relief

"Neuropathic" means nerve damage and refers to nerve pain. So... Read More

So What is Organic?

With allergies on the increase and sensitivities to synthetics becoming... Read More

The Flu Hysteria and Your Family

(originally in Nov. 2004 ZoneNet Newsletter)In this flu season, America... Read More

How Laughing Is Good For Your Health

When thinking about alternative medicine, most people picture plants, crystals,... Read More

Herbal Products

HERBAL PRODUCTS are comprised of herbal care remedies, such as... Read More

The Future of Healing...

Your FUTURE is NOT in a doctor's office or a... Read More

Ayurveda - The Natural Remedy

The word Ayurveda is made up of two Sanskrit words... Read More

The Tribrain and Trauma Therapy

When someone experiences a trauma they go into immediate shock.... Read More

Body Calling: All Natural Cures

Natural remedies can heal and have been around for centuries.... Read More

Kokoro no Kaze: Does Your Soul Have a Cold?

Feeling sad? Have you lost interest in things you used... Read More

Why Are Organic Bedding and Organic Cotton Products More Expensive?

At first glance it may seem strange that natural and... Read More

A Free Natural Medicine Which is also Your Strongest, Most Abundant, and Easiest to Use

We've all heard, haven't we, that a 40-year-old was considered... Read More

Using Psyllium For Relieving Constipation

If you have asthma, do not take or use psyllium.... Read More

Basic Reiki

This is a very simplified primer on basic Reiki. It's... Read More

Organic Bedding and Organic Mattresses by Prescription Only?

Effective January 1, 2005, California law requires all mattresses contain... Read More

Why Detoxify?

Have you been hearing about detoxification more often? That's because... Read More

A Lifestyle Approach to Remedy Snoring

If you want to remedy snoring, you have to find... Read More

Why Do So Many People Seem To Have Allergies?

Allergies and asthma arise from loss of the body's natural... Read More

Athlete Foot Remedies

Athlete foot is a common skin infection that is caused... Read More

Flu Vaccine Hysteria

Last week the media circus surrounding the flu vaccine reached... Read More

Superfood or Superfad

I have been reading a lot lately on the subject... Read More

Homeopathy

Homeopathy is a form of alternative medicine used for over... Read More

Alternative Fibromyalgia Therapies

Fibromyalgia is a mysterious disease that is effecting more and... Read More